Corn (maize)jollof with mixed vegetables

Ingredients:

1kg of meat
1 medium sized onion
1 tin of tomato puree
8 cups of fresh corn (maize)
1 teaspoon of fresh pepper (ground)
6 cooking spoons of vegetable oil
Salt to taste
3 fresh tomatoes
2 medium bunches of lettuce
2 medium size carrots
2 litres of water
Salt to taste
1 cup of green peas
Seasoning (1 teaspoon each of curry and thyme)
2 knorr chicken cubes

Method:

Rinse the lettuce, carrots, onions and tomatoes in clean water add some salt into the water to purify them of any germs on them. Chop the lettuce; grate the carrots, onion and tomatoes separately into four different plates and set aside. Cut the meat into sizes that can be served, wash it thoroughly, pour the meat into a pot, add some water, slice in some onions, add the 1 teaspoon of curry and thyme, 1 cube of knorr chicken, salt and boil the meat until it becomes soft, set the meat stock aside and pour some vegetable oil into the frying pan. When the oil becomes hot, fry the boiled meat in the hot oil until both sides of the meat becomes golden brown. Wash the corn (maize), pour the washed corn (maize) into the meat stock and boil it until it becomes very soft. Fry the tomato puree, slice some onions into the tomato puree add 1 teaspoon pepper, 1 cube of knorr chicken for about 7 minutes. Pour the fried tomato puree into the pot containing corn (maize), pour the green peas and allow it to simmer for 15 minutes, shake the pot from time to time, taste for salt. The corn (maize)jollof is now ready to be served which is garnished with the chopped lettuce, grated onions, carrots and tomatoes.

Ewedu (Jute plant) with pounded yam

Ewedu (jute) is the Yoruba name for the leaves of Jute plant. This vegetable is well eaten in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.They can be bought in the market. The leaves can be cooked fresh or dried and turned into powder, when the fresh leaves are cooked it gives a bright green colour but when the dried leaves are cooked, it has army colour and one can also use the dried leaves as a thickener for stews. Jute is a rich source of beta carotene.

Ingredients

500g of young ewedu (Jute)

leaves1 tea spoon of potash
2 tea spoons of locust bean ( I have talked about the preparation of locust bean from soy bean in a previous dish or you can buy an already prepared locust bean)

seasoning (2 cubes of knorr chicken, 2 tea spoons each of curry and thyme)

salt
Peppers
Tomatoes
2 cooking spoons of Groundnut oil
Onions
Half a kilogram of turkey (or any other meat of your choice)

Method:

The young ewedu (jute) leaves are stripped from the stem and washed. They are then shredded on a chopping board or one could use a blender. Pour some water of about 200ml into the pot, add the 1 tea spoon of potash and bring the water to boil. Add the shredded ewedu to the boiling water followed by the locust bean, seasoning and add some salt to taste. Do not cook for too long in other not to destroy the nutrients in the ewedu (jute), maximum cooking time of 5 minutes will do. Ewedu (jute)can be served with any meal of your choice other than pounded yam. Along side the ewedu (jute) leave soup you’ll also need to prepare pepper stew.

Cut the turkey into sizes that can be served, rinse it and pour into a pot, dice some onions, add 1 tea spoon of curry and thyme and a cube of knorr chicken add salt to taste and cook for 20 minutes, blend the peppers, tomatoes and onion and pour it into the pot containing the turkey, add the 2 spoons of groundnut oil and cook for another 30 minutes and taste for salt. It’s ready to be served.

Iyan (Pounded Yam)

Iyan is the Yoruba name for pounded yam. Pounded yam is well eaten in Africa and Africans relish it a lot. In South West Nigeria, you bet that would be the meal to be served on special days or occasions like Christmas day, weddings and the likes.

Ingredient:

1 tuber of yam

Traditionally pounded yam is prepared by boiling yam in a pot until it becomes soft, it is then poured into a mortar and a pestle is used in crushing the yam into a smooth dough, hot or cold water is added to the dough a little at a time until the dough becomes soft.
Now a days because of the stress involved in preparing pounded yam locally, yam powder also known as poundo yam is now widely available in the stores.

Ingredients:

350 grammes of pounded yam powder (poundo yam)half a litre of water

Method:

Pour some water into a pot and bring to boil, reduce the heat and sprinkle some of the yam powder into the boiling water, stir repeatedly with a spatula and continue to add the yam powder until you get your desired consistency. Add some water to your dough and cover it and let it simmer for 5 minutes, use the spatula to turn it and allow it to simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and use the spatula to knead it repeatedly until it becomes very smooth, afterwards you serve the pounded yam with the pepper stew and the ewedu (jute) soup.

Nigerian Bean Stew (Gbegiri)

Nigerian bean stew otherwise known as Gbegiri is native to the Yorubas in the South Western part of Nigeria, that is not to say that Gbegiri isn’t eaten too by non Yorubas. Gbegiri can be prepared using red meat, white meat or dried fish often referred to as smoked fish which is also combined with red pepper, tomatoes and onion which is liquidised. Below is a list of the ingredients as well as the method of preparation.

Ingredients:

3cups of either red or white beans
2 medium size onion
2 medium size tomatoes
1kg of white meat
4 medium size pepper
3 cooking spoons of palm oil
seasoning (curry, thyme 2 cubes of knorr chicken)Salt

Method:

Cut the white meat into sizes that can be served, rinse thoroughly and pour in a pot add some water, add one medium size onion cut into cubes and some seasoning and 1 cube of knorr chicken, salt and boil for 40 minutes. The three cups of either red or white bean is first soaked in water for about 30 minutes, this is done to make it easy for the skin to come off. Squeeze the beans between the palms , get a sieve as well as a bowl and place the sieve inside the bowl, pour the water inside the beans into the sieve, then pour back the water in the bowl into the beans. Continue to squeeze and pour the water in the beans back into the sieve placed on top of the bowl this is done until all the skin has come off. Then boil the skinned beans until it becomes soft which should not be more than 40 minutes. Liquidise the onion, tomatoes and pepper. Mash the beans properly then add the liquidised puree, the cooked white meat, the palm oil, seasoning and salt to taste and cook for another 10 minutes. Gbegiri can be eaten with yam, pounded yam, eba, amala, rice or any other food of one’s choosing.

Coconut rice served with coconut milk drink

Ingredients:

4 cups of rice
1 large size coconut
1 kilogramme of chicken
Salt
Seasoning ( knorr chicken (2 cubes), curry, thyme)
1 medium size Onions
Onion, pepper and tomatoes (pureed)
2 cooking spoons of groundnut oil

Method:

Cut the chicken into servable sizes and rinse them. Pour into a pot and add 1 cube of knorr chicken, some grated onion and some salt and cook till the chicken becomes tender. Pour the 2 cooking spoon full of groundnut oil into a frying pan and when it becomes hot, pour the puree into it and stir it from time to time, add a little salt and seasoning and cook for 15 minutes, then pour the cooked chicken as well as the chicken stock into the puree and cook for another 5 minutes. The coconut is grated using a grater to get the coconut milk which will be used in cooking the rice (Coconut milk is a sweet, milky white cooking base derived from the meat of a matured coconut). Grate the onion as well and pour it into the coconut milk. Pour the coconut milk in a pot, add some salt, seasoning and bring to boil. Rinse the rice and pour it into the coconut milk and allow the rice to cook for 30 minutes. The coconut rice is ready to be eaten; some people may eat it plain while others may want some sauce added to it.
This serves 4 people.

Method:

The drink from coconut milk is made by adding sugar and evaporated milk to the coconut milk and refrigerating it. This drink can be served alongside the coconut rice or taken alone.

African Groundnut Stew

Beef, mutton, chicken, pork ,turkey or fish
1 tbsp vegetable oil
onion, peppers, tomatoes(blended into paste)
2 cups of raw groundnut
1 tsp dried ginger
1 medium sized Onion(chopped)
Salt to taste
Seasoning (knorr chicken, curry, thyme and white pepper)

Method:

You may decide to use anyone or all of the meat types. Cut the fish, beef, mutton, chicken, turkey or pork into servable sizes. Rinse properly and pour the meat in a pot, add some water, chopped onions, salt and seasoning and bring to boil. Stir repeatedly and allow it to boil for 45 minutes then separate the meat from the meat stock and pour the meat stock into a container. Blend the raw groundnut and set aside. Pour the vegetable oil into the pot, when it becomes hot, pour the blended paste into the oil and fry for 10 minutes, then pour the blended groundnut into it as well as the meat stock and stir properly, then pour the boiled meat (and if you are the type that prefers fish, you could use fish alone) and the dried ginger into the pot, add some salt and seasoning and allow it to cook for another 10minutes. Groundnut stew can be served over eba, pounded yam, amala, rice, yam or any meal you choose to eat it with.

To prepare eba, pounded yam or amala which are widely eaten in Africa is as easy as walking into any shop that sells African foods, buy the gari which is used in making eba, for pounded yam, buy the poundo yam and for amala, buy elubo. Pour some water in a pot and bring to boil. Measure 4 cups of either gari, poundo yam or elubo into the pot and stir until it becomes smooth. Pour a little water into the pot, cover the pot with its lid for 2minutes, open the lid and turn the content of the pot repeated until it is properly cooked, then serve the eba, pounded yam or amala with the groundnut stew. This serves 4 people.

Nigerian Fried Rice

Just like in the case of the Nigerian Jollof rice, there are different ways of cooking the Nigerian fried rice too. You can just follow my recipe or add any other ingredient you desire.

Ingredients:

5 cups of rice
½ kilogram of shrimp(peeled), crayfish, periwinkle (optional)
2 kilograms of fish, beef, mutton, chicken or pork
I medium sized onion
5 green peppers
Green peas
Carrots
¼ of a kilogram Liver
¼ of a kilogram Kidney
Sweet corn
Salt
Vegetable oil
Seasoning (knorr, black pepper, curry, thyme and white pepper)
Water

Method:

Put the kidney, liver, shrimp(peeled), crayfish, periwinkle, beef, mutton, chicken or pork in a pot pour some water, slice in some onion, add seasoning and boil for 30 minutes and set aside the meat . Dice the liver, kidney, carrots, onion and green peppers and set them aside. Rinse the rice and pour it into a sieve for the water to drain. Pour some vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the beef, mutton, chicken, pork or fish (any of these can be used and you may decide to use a little of the four types of meat or fish) until it becomes golden brown. Fry the peeled shrimp, crayfish, periwinkle, carrots, onion, green peas, diced kidney and liver until it becomes golden brown and set aside. Pour some vegetable oil into the frying pan and fry the rice until it becomes golden brown and set aside. Pour some more water into the meat stock if you feel the meat stock may not be enough to cook the rice, add enough salt and seasoning and bring to boil and pour in the rice and let it cook for 30 minutes. When the rice is almost done pour in the fried shrimp, crayfish, periwinkle, carrots, onion, green peas, kidney, liver and sweet corn and stir them into the rice. Don’t add too much water so that by the time the rice is done, it does not stick together. Test the rice to ensure it is properly cooked and serve it with either the fried beef, mutton, chicken pork or fish or as you desire.

Nigerian jollof rice

Different African countries have their way of cooking jollof rice. For those who are allergic to sea foods, since these are optional you can always replace them with others you feel comfortable with. One may choose to have a mixture of fish, beef, mutton and chicken or one may decide to just use one of the four.

Ingredients:

5 cups of rice
½ kilo of shrimp, crayfish, periwinkle (optional)
2 kilograms of fish, beef, mutton or chicken, pork
I medium sized onion
3 red and green pepper
Tomatoes
Green peas
Red pepper, onion and tomatoes (blended)
Corn beef
Salt
Vegetable oil
Seasoning (knhello
korr, black pepper, curry, thyme and white pepper)
Water

Method:

The shrimp should be peeled, if you intend to use a bit of fish, beef, pork, mutton and chicken, then they should all be rinsed and boiled together with the exception of the fish. Add some salt, onion and seasoning and allow it to boil for 30 minutes then set aside. Dice onion, tomatoes, red and green pepper then set aside. Pour some water into a pot, bring to boil and pour the rice into it to per boil the rice, allow the rice to boil for 10 minutes then pour the rice into a sieve and rinse the rice in cold water. (this is done to prevent the rice from sticking together when cooked). Pour some water into the pot, add some portion of the blended red pepper, tomatoes and onion to the water in the pot, add some salt as well as seasoning into the pot and a spoon of vegetable oil. Pour in the diced onion, red and green pepper and bring to boil. Pour the half cooked rice, green peas and corn beef into the pot and allow it to cook for 20 minutes. The jollof rice is ready, but some people prefer to add some sauce to their jollof rice. The sauce can be prepared by pouring vegetable oil into a frying pan, when it is hot what is left of the blended red pepper, tomatoes and onion is poured into the frying pan, add some salt to taste as well as some seasoning, add fish, beef, pork, mutton and chicken then stir and allow to fry for 7 minutes then set aside.

This serves 5 people