Summary

Ingredients

• 400 g beans (cowpeas)
• 4 cm ginger
• 1 clove garlic
• 120 ml palm oil, red
• 1 teaspoon curry powder, red
• 2 teaspoon curry powder, yellow
• 2 teaspoons vegetable stock powder
• 1 teaspoon chilli flakes, hot
• 0.5 teaspoon ½ salt
• 1 large plantain (s), ripe
• 2 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 large onion (s)
• possibly cassava flour (Gari - cassava meal)

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Instructions

1. There are two options for the cowpeas. Either you take cowpeas out of the can, which reduces the cooking time. Or you think about soaking dried cowpeas the day before. They need more time in the pot, so they absorb more flavor and still remain a little firmer, al dente so to speak.
2. A mixture of both is also very good: Then you have both a bit of bite and the slightly soggy bean consistency typical of Red Red.
3. Boil the beans in a saucepan. Use less water for this than is written on the package. It is not drained at the end, but the little water that is left becomes part of the sauce.
4. The correct cooking time varies, as described above, depending on the type of beans. They are ready when you can crush them with a wooden spoon without using too much force.
5. In the meantime, prepare the seasoning mixture. To do this, chop the ginger and garlic as small as possible and mix with the curry powder, vegetable stock powder, chilli flakes and salt.
6. Melt the red palm oil in a large pan and, when it is liquid, add the seasoning mixture first. Medium heat is enough for it to sizzle. When it starts to smell delicious, roughly dice the onion, add and sweat until translucent. Now add the tomato paste.
7. There should be enough water in the bean pot to just cover the beans, but by no means float. If necessary, add or drain some water.
8. Mix the - hopefully fire-red - contents of the pan with the beans and stir vigorously. Depending on your taste, crush the beans a little on the wall of the pot with the wooden spoon so that it becomes thicker.
9. If you want, you can also use Gari (cassava meal) if it seems too runny. Now keep the pot with the beans warm on a very low flame.
10. Cut the plantains into approx. 1 - 1.5 cm thick slices and place in a pan with plenty of hot oil. It doesn`t have to be palm oil here, a neutral frying oil is sufficient. Deep-fry until their color has changed from light yellow-green to golden-yellow, almost orange.
11. Now serve the bean stew in a deep plate with the plantain slices placed on the edge. You can garnish the stew with dry gari, which you sprinkle over the pasta like Parmesan usually does.
12. At Red Red, the name says it all: this dish gets its red color from tomato paste on the one hand and red palm oil on the other. You can get red (unrefined) palm oil e.g., in the health food store or well-stocked grocery store. It is particularly rich in vitamin A, beta-carotene and vitamin E.