Black-Eyed or Brown beans are rich in high quality protein which provides a healthy alternative to meat and other animal protein. They are also rich in fiber which helps lower blood cholesterol.
This makes beans a must-have staple in Nigerian dishes. However, many still do not like beans because it is associated with flatulence and indigestion.
The following are beans recipes that you can implement in your kitchen that will help eliminate the discomfort associated with beans to ensure that this staple stays in your family menu.
1. BEANS AND CORN (ADALU)
Ingredients:
- 3 cups brown beans
- 3 cups fresh corn
- 2-3 cooking spoons of red palm oil
- 2 red onions
- 2 tablespoons ground crayfish
- 2 small seasoning cubes
- Peppers (to your taste)
- Salt (to your taste)
DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING BEANS AND CORN:
- Rinse the beans a few times till the water runs clear.
-Put in a pot, pour water to cover it and start cooking on medium heat.
- After about 7 minutes, pour the beans in a sieve and rinse with cool water.
- Put back in the pot, add onions (chopped), pour water to cover it and continue cooking.
- Remove the corn kernels from the cob, rinse and put in a sieve to drain.
- Chop the peppers.
- When the beans are soft, add the corn and palm oil and continue cooking.
- After about 7 minutes, add the peppers and salt. Once it simmers again, it’s done.
- Serve it as lunch or dinner
2. BEANS PORRIDGE
INGREDIENTS
- 3 cigar cups (approx. 750g) brown/black eyed beans
- Red palm oil (enough to colour)
- 1 medium onion
- Pepper & Salt (to taste)
- 1 big stock cube
- Crayfish
DIRECTION:
- Soak the beans in cold water for 5 hours.
- Boil the beans for 5 minutes and discard the water.
- Wash the beans in cold water and set aside.
NB: This soaking and pre-cooking process will help reduce the gas inducing elements.
- Chop the onions, grind the crayfish (if you are using it) and pepper.
- Put the beans in a pot and pour water up to the level of the beans and start cooking. A pressure cooker is the best for cooking beans.
- When the beans porridge is soft, add the onions, crayfish (if using it), pepper and seasoning.
- Add the red palm oil, salt to taste and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat.
- Turn off the heat, leave to stand for 5 minutes and turn the porridge with a wooden spoon.
- The beans porridge is ready. If you cooked the beans porridge without any of the additions, serve with Fried Plantain, Fried Yam or fried sweet potatoes.
3. EWA AGOYIN
Ewa Agoyin simply means plain boiled beans eaten with a pepper sauce.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cigar cups (approx. 500g) brown/black eyed beans
- 5 cooking spoons red palm oil
- 5 big plum tomatoes
- 1 handful crayfish
- 1 big onion
- Pepper & Salt (to taste)
- 2 stock cubes
DIRECTION:
- Chop the onions, grind the crayfish and pound the pepper.
- Blend the tomatoes and boil the tomato puree till all the water has dried from it.
- Pre-cook the diced onions without any added water. The aim is to get it to caramelize a bit so that it will take less time to fully caramelize during frying.
- Cook the beans till done. For Ewa Agoyin, the beans need to be very soft.
- When the beans is done, add salt, leave to dry up all the water and set aside.
THE AGOYIN SAUCE:
- To cook the sauce, pour the palm oil into a separate dry pot. Allow to heat up till the oil starts smoking and the red color changes to clear. It is better to do this at medium heat so that the oil does not get too hot quickly.
- Now add the precooked onions and stir continuously till the onions are fully caramelized. It should be very dark.
- Add the parboiled tomato puree and stir continuously till you cannot tell the difference between the tomatoes and onions.
- Add the pepper, crayfish, stock cubes and salt to taste. You can also add a little water at this point if your want.
- Stir very well and bring to the boil.
- The Ewa Agoyin is ready!
4. MOINMOIN
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 cigar cups or 750g Beans (Brown/Black eyed)
- 5 tablespoons ground crayfish
- 4 big stock cubes
- 1 habanero pepper
- 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 3 tatashe peppers or 800g watery tomato puree (sold outside Nigeria)
- 2 big onions
- 20cl vegetable oil
- 2 litres of cool or warm water
- Salt (to taste)
- Hard boiled eggs: Cut the eggs into small pieces.
DIRECTIONS:
- Blend the beans, tatashe or tomato puree, onions, crayfish, habanero pepper and ground nutmeg together with some of the water and pour the mix into a big enough bowl.
Add the vegetable oil and the bone marrow stock (if this is what you have chosen to add to your moi moi).
- Slowly add the remaining water and stir the mixture at the same time till you get a good mix of all the ingredients.
- Add salt to taste and stir very well.
- Pad the base of a big pot, pour some water and set on the stove. The depth of the water should be at most 1 inch.
- Dish the Moi moi mix into containers of your choice, add egg/bone marrow/corned beef to each container, seal/cover and set them in the pot.
- Add as small quantity of water as possible at a time while cooking the Moi Moi as detailed in preparation and use of moi moi containers so that the moi moi will not become watery when done. This is the case especially when using aluminium foil or uma leaves.
- Cook your Moi Moi for at least 1 hour, before checking it. Confirm that it is done by putting a knife through it, if the knife is stained with Moi Moi paste, then the Moi Moi is not done, but if the knife just has a slight smear of Moi Moi, then it's done.
- Serve with chilled fruit juice or coconut juice. You can also serve with Peppered Fish and as a side dish to Jollof Rice, Fried Rice or Fried Plantains. For breakfast, serve with Custard or Akamu (Pap, Ogi).
5. EKURU
INGREDIENTS:
- 360g black eyed or brown beans
- 1 small onion
- 1 big stock cube
- Salt (to taste)
- 600mls lukewarm water
- 2 cooking spoons vegetable oil (optional)
- 250mls Tomato Stew
- 2 small smoked mackerels
- 1 small onion
- 1 small stock cube
- Salt and Habanero pepper (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
DIRECTIONS:
- Blend the beans with the onions and crushed stock cubes and pour into a big enough bowl. Please note that the total quantity of water to be used (for blending and mixing) should be 600 mls.
- Add the vegetable oil (if using it) and stir.
- Slowly add the remaining water and stir the mixture at the same time till you get a good mix of all the ingredients.
- Add salt to taste and stir very well.
- Set some water in a pot to boil. The water should be about 1 cm deep.
- When the water boils, add some padding that will be a base for the Moi Moi wraps.
- Scoop the Moi Moi mix into your container of choice and gently place in the pot of boiling water.
- Repeat step 7 for the rest of the Moi Moi mix.
- When done, cover the wraps with some leaves or a plastic bag to keep the heat in.
- Cover the pot and start cooking on medium heat.
- Check it from time to time and add small quantities of water at a time when necessary.
- The length of time you will cook your Moi Moi depends on the quantity and the Moi Moi container you used.
- The Moi Moi that gets done quickest is the one wrapped in Uma or Banana leaves, followed by Moi Moi wrapped in aluminum foils then the one that takes the most time is Moi Moi cooked in aluminium or plastic plates.
- But whatever Moi Moi container you use, it is advisable to cook your Moi Moi for at least 1 hour, before checking it. Confirm that it is done by putting a knife through it, if the knife is stained with Moi Moi paste, then the Moi Moi is not done, but if the knife just has a slight smear of Moi Moi, then it's done. Also, when you cut through the Moi Moi, the insides will be set and not watery.
- If you are cooking a few wraps of Moi Moi in a small pot on high heat, then it will only take about 45 minutes to get done while when you are cooking a large pot of Moi Moi, it will definitely take more than one hour.
DIRECTIONS: THE STEW
You can eat white Moi Moi with any tomato based stew, make sure the stew is seasoned with at least one traditional ingredient: smoked fish, iru, crayfish. This is how I prepare mine and it is so delicious, goes really well with the Ekuru.
- Put the chunks of fish in a clean pot.
- Add the onions, some water, stock cube, pepper and nutmeg.
- Stir and start cooking.
- Once it boils, add the tomato stew.
- Cover and leave to simmer and it’s done!
- Serve with the stew and with a chilled soft drink.
6. AKARA
INGREDIENTS
- Beans
- Onion
- Crayfish
- Bell pepper,
- Habanero pepper,
- Salt,
- Bouillon powder
DIRECTION:
- Soak for about 30 minutes or till the skin swells.
- Peel off the beans with your hands (the hard way) or use a blender and pulse a couple of times to split the beans (the easy way)
- Blend the peeled beans with peppers, crayfish, salt, and bouillon powder (or cube).
- Whisk until the batter becomes airy and fluffy. This will take about a minute to 5 minutes depending on the tool you use.
- Electric hand whisk takes about a minute to two, regular hand whisk will take about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Stir in the diced onions.
- Preheat the oil and scoop the mixture by spoonfuls into the pan
- Fry till golden brown!
- The result is hot fluffy fritters perfect for pairing with akamu (pap), bread, hot sauce, or just eat as is.
Which of these would you love to try very soon? Leave your comments below 💗
