Re: Anyone cooking West African foods these days?

Shito wrote:

My Beloved is from Ghana and since we have been together I have had a
whole new world of cooking opend to me, his mom came to teach me some
staples but now I am looking for something new to add to my bag of
tricks. Such dishes as Jollof, groundnut soup, light soup are old hat
and I am looking for a new taste of home.
I'll share mine if you share yours

The 2 West African dishes I make frequently are
Yassa and Akara. But they are not Ghanian necessarily.
I think Yassa is from Senegal and Akara is just West
African in general.

Kate

AKARA
(Black-eyed Pea Fritters with Hot Sauce)

Fritters:
1 1/4 c. dried black-eyed peas (about ½ lb.)
1/4 c. coarsely chopped onions
1 T. coarsely chopped, scraped fresh gingerroot
1/2-3/4 c. water
1/4 t. ground hot red pepper (cayenne)
1 t. salt
vegetable oil for deep frying

Place peas in deep bowl and pour in hot water to cover by at least 2".
Let soak for about half an hour. Drain in colander and drop into a
blender or food processor. Add onions, ginger, ½ c. water, red pepper,
and salt. Blend at high speed for 30 seconds, then turn off and scrape
down sides. Blend again until mixture is a fairly smooth puree. (If
blender clogs at any time, add up to 1/4 cup more water, a tablespoon at
a time.) Transfer the puree to a bowl and beat with whisk or large
spoon for 3-4 minutes until mixture is light and fluffy. Preheat oven
to lowest setting. Line large baking *** with paper towels and place
in middle of oven. Pour vegetable oil into deep-fryer or large heavy
saucepan to a depth of 2"-3" and heat oil until it reaches 375F on a
deep-frying thermometer. To make each fritter, scoop up a tablespoon of
puree, and with a second spoon push it off into the the oil. Deep-fry
6-8 fritters at a time, turning them frequently with slotted spoon, for
about 45 minutes, or until the are golden brown on all sides. As they
brown, transfer them to lined baking *** and keep warm in oven. To
serve arrange fritters attractively on a heated platter and present the
sauce separately in a small bowl. Makes 2 dozen 1" fritters.

Sauce:
1 sm. onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 lg. cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 med. firm ripe tomato, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped
2 fresh, hot chiles, each about 2" long, coarsely chopped (with seeds
intact)
1 T. coarsely chopped, scraped fresh gingerroot
1 T. tomato paste
1 T. gr. dried shrimp
t. gr. hot red pepper (cayenne)
1 t. salt
2 T. peanut or vegetable oil

Combine onion, garlic, tomato, chiles, ginger, tomato paste, gr. shrimp,
red pepper, and salt in blender. Blend at high speed until completely
pulverized. In 8"-10" skillet, hot oil over mod. heat until a light
haze forms above it. Add pureed vegetables and seasoning and, stirring
constantly, cook briskly for about 5 minutes, or until most of the
liquid has evaporated and the mixture is thick enough to hold it's
shape.

Notes: Fritter batter can be made the day before and refrigerated
overnight. If made in a blender it made need a lot more water that
called for. I ended up adding another 3/4 cup of water just to get it
liquid enough for the blender to grind it (although that did not seem to
have any adverse affect on the texture of the batter. Perhaps next time
I'll use a food processor, as it might be easier. Also most recipes for
Akara call for scraping the skins off the peas. I don't do this. It
doesn't make any difference and is so much less work. For the sauce,
it's not really necessary to skin the tomato. I use a nice Roma tomato
or 2 and just seed them and then chop. Again, it is probably easier to
use a food processor than a blender as this is not a very liquid mixture
and doesn't blend easily. You can also fry the fritters in a large
skillet in about 1/2" of oil, rather than deep-frying them if that is
more to your liking, but they may stick to the bottom if you don't use
teflon.

YASSA
(Spicy Marinated Chicken in Onion Sauce)

4 large onions, sliced thinly
1/2 cup lime juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 3 1/2-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 medium rib celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1/2 cup chicken broth (either homemade or canned)
hot cooked rice or couscous

Combine onions, lime juice, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add
chicken; toss to coat well. Cover; refrigerate at least 3 hours and up
to 6 hours. Remove chicken from marinade and pat dry with paper
towels. Drain the marinade in a colander set over a large bowl.
Reserve both the liquid and the onions. Heat olive oil in a 5-quart
Dutch oven. Cook chicken in batches over medium-high heat, turning
often, until browned on all sides, about 6 minutes per batch. Transfer
chicken to plate and set aside. Add reserved marinated onions, carrot,
celery, and jalapeno pepper to Dutch oven. Cook over medium-high heat,
stirring often, until onions are tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in
chicken broth and reserved marinade liquid. Bring to a boil; return
chicken to Dutch oven. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer
until chicken shows no sign of pink at the bone when cut with the tip of
a sharp knife, 35-50 minutes. Serve over hot cooked rice or couscous.
Serves 4.

SENEGALESE CHICKEN YASSA

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 large onions, thinly sliced
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon fresh habanero or other hot chile, minced,
plus 1 habanero or other hot chile pricked with a fork
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 2 1/2-3 1/2 lb. chicken, cut in serving pieces
1/2 cup pimiento-stuffed olives
4 carrots, scraped and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard

In a large non-reactive bowl, prepare a marinade with the lemon juice,
onions, salt, pepper, the 1/8 teaspoon minced chile, and 1/4 cup of the
peanut oil. Place the chicken pieces in the marinade, making sure they
are 8 hours in the refrigerator. Preheat the broiler. Remove the
chicken pieces, reserving the marinade, and place them in a shallow
roasting pan. Broil them until they are lightly browned on both sides.
Remove the onions from the marinade. Cook them slowly in the remaining
1 tablespoon oil in a flameproof 3-quart casserole or Dutch oven until
tender and translucent. Add the remaining marinade and heat through.
When the liquid is thoroughly heated, add the broiled chicken pieces,
the pricked chili, the olives, carrots, mustard, and ½ cup water. Stir
to mix well, then bring the yassa slowly to a boil. Lower the heat and
simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
Serve hot over white rice. Makes 6 servings.


--
Kate Connally
?If I were as old as I feel, I?d be dead already.?
Goldfish: ?The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.?
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?
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