Beans stew(Red red)

I remember this was one of my favorite dishes growing up in Ghana. Right after Jollof, and banku & okra lol, I enjoyed it at home and the ones they sold on the streets(which was slightly different than the recipe here). So I decided why not share a recipe. Been a long time coming though lol.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups blackeyepeas 
• 3-4 tablespoons of Palm oil(canola or vegetable oil is fine if you don't have palm oil)
• 2 onions
• 4 tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 scotch bonnet pepper(Jamaican hot pepper)
• 1 small can of mackerel(optional, I use it because the family love it)
• Spices to taste

Method:

1. Pour the beans in a small sauce pan, add about 4 or more cups of water to it, set on medium high, and cook until it's soft to touch. While that's cooking blend 1 and half onion,tomatoes,ginger and pepper
2. In a separate sauce pan, pour in palm oil with some sliced onions, sauté the onions for about a minute, pour in the blended ingredients, allow that to cook for about 15-20minutes
3. Add in the cooked beans, allow that to simmer for about 5mins, add in your mackerel, let it simmer for another 20mins and serve with some gari and fried plantains

This was served with kaaklo and some gari

Beans stew with gari and fried plantains

Waakye

Awaakye or waakye it's still the same dish, made with beans and rice.  It's eaten with a special tomato stew which is made with meat,fish and egg. Other accompaniments that goes well with this are spaghetti, gari ,salad.
Ingredients:

• 2 cups of black eye beans
• 4-5 stalks of the waakye leaves. (if you don't have that 1/2 tablespoon of baking soda will do, if you use too much,the rice will become soapy)
• 1/2 cup of rice
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 cup of butter(optional)

Method:

1. Wash black eye beans and cook with enough water to cover up beans, add in your waakye leaves OR baking soda (this will give the waakye the color that it comes with)
2. Let the beans cook for about 25 minutes or soft to the touch.
3. Add rice, cover with foil



Finally got some waakye leaves (YAY) look at the color difference?

4. After 15mins check on your waakye , now you can add the butter, stir and allow it to cook for about 15mins 

Pardon the steam this was still on fire when I took the picture lol

Gari: This is one of the accompaniments that goes with waakye. If you have some gari at home, that will be awesome. You will be using the oil from the tomato stew.

• 2 cups of gari
• 1/3 cup of water
• Enough oil from the stew to give the gari the orange color that it usually is. 



The stages of the gari. See the color difference?

• Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of water on the gari, mix it together. Then start off with 3 tablespoons of oil, if it is still white then add more oil till you get that orange color.

Spaghetti: You can use a tablespoon from the oil from the same tomato stew that is why the waakye stew is usually oily.

• Half of a bag of spaghetti (or the whole bag depends on how many people you are cooking for)
• 2-3 cups of water
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of oil
• Break the spaghetti in a bowl, add your water,salt and oil. Boil till its soft . Allow it to cool down for 5mins, stir in 1 tablespoon of oil from the stew with a fork. 

The stages of the spaghetti best known as "ta-lia" (when buying it on the roadside in Ghana lol)

Waakye stew: 

• 1-2 lbs goat meat
• 2 onions
• 3 tomatoes
• 2 scotch bonnet pepper (depending on how spicy you want it)
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 1/2 cup of oil
• 1/4 teaspoon of ginger
• 4 eggs (depending on how many people you are cooking for, optional)
• Spices (Lawry's seasoning salt,black pepper,parsley flakes,etc...any of your choice)

1. Season goat meat, then steam it for 20 minutes(until the meat isn't red), after the meat is ready, fry it. 
2. Blend onions,tomatoes,ginger and pepper
3. Slice half of an onion and saute it with some oil in a different sauce pan, after 1 minute pour in your blended ingredients. Add in your tomato paste, let it simmer for 20mins then add in your fried goat meat. (Boil your eggs now)
4. Season your stew with the spices, your eggs should be hard boiled now so you can add them to your stew......and after 10- 15minutes your stew should be all ready now. Enjoy!!

PS: You can increase the amount of ingredients you use depending on the number of people you are cooking for......You can also fry some fish and add it to the stew if you want that road side waakye stew feel lol.

This is my mom's lunch bowl for work, I make sure she has food for lunch everyday lol, There's waakye,gari,spaghetti,meat,fish and egg :-D

Waakyeeee is readyyy!! LOL