Ghanaian Jollof Rice

Ghanaian Jollof Rice

The main ingredients of the dish are rice, tomatoes, and onions. The rest of the ingredients can vary greatly according to everyone’s taste. For example, vegetarians prefer to have the dish with mixed vegetables and without any meat products, while many other people prefer to have the dish with meat, chicken, turkey, or fish. For this recipe I have chosen to make it vegetarian with mixed vegetables and beans.

Ingredients:

3 large tomatoes

3 cloves of garlic (you can add more according to your choice)

2 large onions

A bit of fresh ginger, (like 2 cm long)

2 cups (800 grams) of basmati rice (long grain rice)

1 chilie (optional, you can add more according to your choice)

1 tablespoons of tomato paste

2 spoons of vegetable oil

Salt and ground black pepper (according to taste)

7 dl of water or stock (you can also add one or two stock cubes for a better seasoning)

300 gr mixed vegetables of soybeans, red beans, corn and carrots

Directions:

Rince the uncooked rice with cold water until the water is clear. Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes. Sift the rice and pour in a pan with water. Cook for 10 minutes in boiling water. The rice should be half cooked. Sift the rice again and rince under cold water.

Cut the tomatoes into big cubes and blend then using a blender, cut the garlic cloves into halves and press them, and then slice the rest of the onions into medium pieces. Cut the ginger in small pieces. In a non-stick pot, add the vegetable oil and heat it for 1-2 minutes. Add the onions to the pot and fry them until they become soft. Add the garlic cloves and ginger and fry all together with the onions for one more minute while stirring continuously, and then add the blended tomatoes, the water, the stock cube, salt, black pepper, the chilies, the tomato paste, and stir them all together. You should pay attention to the seasoning, as the rice will be cooked later in this mix. Cook on medium heat for 5-10 minutes until the mix starts boiling. After boiling I mix the sauce with a mixer/blender to get a smooth sauce.

You could continue to cook the rice in the pot but I do the rest in the oven. So place the rice in a baking tray. Add the mixed vegetables and beans and stir. Then add the sauce and stir so all mixes. Cover the baking tray with foil and then bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes on 200 degrees Celsius.

Take it out and stir all the rice around to see how far the cooking process has come. If it is still a bit moist and not cooked cover again and put it back in the oven for another 20 minutes.

Take it out again and see if it is ready. The rice should be soft and dry and not sticky.

Coconut Rice

Coconut Rice

 Ingredients for 4 servings:

1 1/2 cups jasmine or long-grain rice

1 rounded teaspoon finely grated ginger

1⁄2 teaspoon red chili flakes

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup water

1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk (not coconut cream)

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup toasted coconut to garnish

In a pot: all ingredients except toasted coconut- Bring to a simmer, cover, cook on low for 18 minutes. Turn off heat, leave covered 5 more minutes, then fluff ; plate and garnish with toasted coconut and serve.

Saffron Rice

Saffron Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups Basmati Rice
3 ½ cups Broth (chicken or vegetable)
½ tsp saffron soaked in 2tbs hot water for 10 minutes
chili flakes
1 onion
1 tsp salt
2 tbs olive oil
 

Directions:
Wash and drain the rice. In a pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. When oil is shimmering, add rice and stir a minute, add broth/water and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once it starts boiling, immediately cover and turn to low heat. Let the rice cook on low heat for 20 minutes. Turn off heat. Let sit for another 5 minutes covered to finish steaming. Use a fork to fluff up the rice.

Slice onion to small pieces, fry until softened in a little olive oil. Add  the onion, chiliflakes and  saffron to the rice. Stir and plate to serve. 

African Goatmeat Stew

African Goatmeat Stew
Serves 7-9, depending on size of portions and side dishes
Time: 2-4 hours
Mild and rich stew

Ingredients:
800 g goatmeat
3 large beefsteak tomatoes or 1 can of crushed tomatoes of good quality
2 carrots
2 red bell peppers
3 cups okra (chopped into bite-sized pieces)
2 aubergines
1 stock cube
3 cups water
3 cm cinnamon stick
1 red onion, sliced
1 yellow onion
1 spring onion
Olive oil for frying
3 tsp cumin
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon garlic powder (or real garlic 3 cloves)
3 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon chili powder, but take more if you want strength
1 tsp cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
A touch of cayenne pepper
Salt, freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Cut the meat into small pieces.

Cut the onions, tomatoes, carrots, okra, peppers, aubergines into pieces. Put them in separate bowls when you cut them while you are preparing.

Pour enough oil in an iron pot to cover the bottom and heat. Add the sliced ​​onions and saute the onions slightly. Add the spices and stirfry everything together for about 30 seconds. Add the water and then mix the chopped vegetables.

Add the meat.

Cover and simmer slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Add more water if needed during cooking time. The meat should be completely tender and easily loosen from the bones(if you have goat meat with bones in). When meat is tender the stew is ready.

When the stew is ready, taste with salt and black pepper and possibly more of the previous spices, according to taste.

This stew can be served with various side dishes. You can serve with plain rice or spicy rice. It can also be served with boiled cassava or in Ethiopia and Eritrea as a stew on Injera. My recipe for Injera can be found under the link below.

Injera

http://ohemmabjorg.blogspot.se/2015_09_01_archive.html

To serve with the stew, I have this time made my own African Spicy, Yellow Rice with a little inspiration from west, south and east Africa.

African Spicy Yellow Rice

Ingredients:
2-3 tablespoons cooking oil/butter
500 gr white rice
15 dl chicken stock or water
2 onions (yellow or spring onions)
1 red paprika (or as per taste)
2 carrots, cubed
1 cup of green beans or peas (I used soybeans this time since I had that)
2 Tablespoons honey (or brown sugar)
2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 teaspoon curry powder (optional)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder or 2-3 cloves of garlic 
2 teaspoon salt or more adjust to taste

Instructions:
Pour the water and chicken stock in a pan and add the rice. As the water boils turn down the heat a little and cover the pan with a lid. Let boil until the water is absorbed by the rice. Cooking time for the rice depends on what kind of rice you are using. Follow the cooking instructions for your rice. 

The rice I used required about 20 minutes cooking time. After ten minutes I added the carrots to cook along with the rice and after 15 minutes I added the soybeans which had been frozen.

While the rice, carrots and beans/peas are cooking heat a saucepan with oil/ butter. Then fry the onion, add the red pepper, and add all the spices and the honey/brown sugar. Stir and fry for about a minute.  Pull aside.

Watch the rice until it is completely cooked - about 18- 20 minutes. As the rice cooks you may add more stock if needed.

When the rice is cooked, add the fried up onions and spices and stir into the rice. The rice will now turn into a beautiful yellow color. 

Ghanaian Fufu

Ghanaian Fufu

Fufu is a staple food in Ghana. It is eaten with soup. You eat with your hands. Fufu can be made of different ingredients. In northern Ghana you make Fufu from yam´s roots. In southern Ghana you make it from cassava and plantain. There are also powder to buy nowadays, which is made of one or the other and you just mix it with water.

How to make Fufu 

A large yam is enough for four people for sure, perhaps six, depending on how big portions you eat, or the size of the root. 

Peel the yam and split it into pieces. Boil it until it is soft and you can easily stick a fork in it (as boiling potatoes). It should not be cooked too soft because then the Fufu gets too loose. When it is boiled put it in the food processor (use the knife you chop vegetables with) Do not take too much at a time, a few pieces such as three pieces about the size of three potatoes. Mix with the knife until the pieces are chopped. Continue mixing until the yam is a smooth lump, like a dough. There is so much starch in the yams that it changes into the consistency of smooth dough when you mix it. It should be a smooth little chewy dough. If you want the fufu little softer, you can add a little water, but be careful so it does not become too soft. When you have the smooth dough put it in a deep dish and serve. Pour sauce over and add the meat and put in the dish. Then you eat with your fingers, take a piece of fufu, dip in the soup, and even eat the meat.

Ingredients for the light soup.
Fresh tomatoes
Chili peppers
Aubergines

Garlic

Meat extract cube

Onion
Salt

Ginger

Tomato paste

Water

Chop the ingredients by hand or in a blender. It should not be much water in, then the soup is too thin. It becomes liquid of the vegetables when they are cooked. How much to take of each vegetable depends on how many are going to eat. For four servings you can take about five chili peppers, 2 aubergines, four tomatoes, 1garlic, 3 onions and half a can of tomato paste. Aubergines should be yellow, but you can also use blue. The aubergines are full of starch that makes the soup thcken. It is enough with one deciliter of water in it. That said, one can mix a little what you like and what you want in the soup. 

Let it all boil and simmer for about 30 minutes. Then, sift so the soup is clear, without the pieces of vegetables. Then it's real light soup. But personally I like the pieces and they are good and filling, so if you have not been in Ghana and eaten real Fufu with light soup and know how it should look, it is not wrong if you don´t sift, it is good. 

Meat in the soup - the most common in Ghana is goat meat or chicken. But you can take any meat whatsoever, and cut into pieces. The chicken you put in whole parts. The meat should be in some large pieces which you then take with your fingers and eat.

The soup can also be a seafood flavor or with fish in. It's your choice.

The meat can cook for itself and be put into the finished soup. Depending on what meat you use and how long the cooking time required. Chicken does not take long, so you can add to the soup as it cooks in the soup. The same can be done with fish. In Ghana, you put the whole fish with the bones and fins and everything in, but you don´t have to do it this way.

Fakefufu!

Now you may be thinking that you dare not try, or you cannot because you cannot find yam´s roots in the store! However, it is possible to cheat a little and get a good Fufu, although it does not taste quite like real Fufu.

Fake it is done in this way:

4 cups mashed potatoes

2 cups potato flour

about 1 liter of water (Too much water makes dough too loose. So be careful.)

Mix the ingredients cold in a saucepan. Set the pan on the hot plate (number four heat) and stir constantly until it forms a thick smooth batter. Stir the mixture quickly and firmly until it is firm and smooth as a dough. Serve immediately with the soup. Do you think it's hard to get it smooth enough by touching by hand in the pot, work it some in the mixing bowl of the food processor. It is important that it has been heated long enough, so it has become smooth and the taste of the potato flour has disappeared.

Coffee from fresh coffee beans!

Did you know that fresh coffee is green? I love coffee, I have to admit. Still I never knew that coffee is green? Did you know? Fresh coffee is green! I have never seen fresh coffee before. When I was little I grinded coffee and made it the old fashioned way in a kettle. My mother and grandmother taught me. It was long before I drunk myself. But I liked the big coffee grinder my grandmother had in her kitchen, Still the coffee beans we grinded were black! 

Now I have seen the fresh green coffee beans and didn´t know what I was looking at, even though I have been drinking coffee for more than 25 years. I have now tasted coffee from fresh coffee beans that I have roasted myself, grinded and made coffee from! It is such a difference in the taste, it is amazing!

I bought the coffee beans in a Eritrean shop in Stockholm. I even got a small pan to roast the beans and the Jebena to make the coffee in after it is grinded. In Eritrea drinking coffee is a whole ceremony. It is drunk with popcorn. So I made myself a coffee ceremony the Eritrean way. Well I drunk alone, and it is always a social event in Eritrea.

It is a long story to describe a real coffee ceremony, You can read more on these links.
www.ineedcoffee.com/coffee-cultures-eritrea-and-ethiopia/
www.ucl.ac.uk/atlas/tigrinya/coffee_ceremony.html

For me I roasted the coffee beans in the pan called a “menkeskesha”. I let them cool on a small woven mat and then grinded the beans in a small coffee grinder I have bought. It works to use a mixer as well. After grinding the coffee I filled water and coffee in my Jebena. This is a coffeepot made of clay. I put it on my electric stove. It works even if it is not the "right way". After the coffee has boiled I placed it on a special woven stand to let the coffee sink before I poured it. The coffee is poured into small cups with sugar. How much sugar depends on your taste. For me I normally drink coffee without sugar. And with the coffee the tradition is to eat popcorn. 

Himbasha

Himbasha is an Ethiopian and Eritrean celebration bread that is slightly sweet. It is often served at special occasions. But it is also eaten for ordinary days for breakfast, lunch or supper. It can be eaten with spreads or jam or with stews where you tear pieces of bread and dip in the stew or toppings.



Ingredients:
1, 1 kg (2 ½ lb) wheat flour
1 tbsp sugar (optional)
1 tbsp yeast
1 tsp salt
¼ cup oil
1 cup water

Directions:

Put yeast and sugar in mildly warm water (about a cup of water). Wait until it rises, 20-30 minutes, than mix all ingredients to make a dough, (just like a dough for a regular bread). Wait until it rises about 4 hours. Then bake it in an electric frying pan or in the oven on 200 celcius degrees for 20 minutes. This will make it flat and you can make any design on it before baking.

This bread is prepared in a number of varieties, however the most distinctive flavoring is ground cardamom seeds. Some put raisins in it or decorate with raisins. This is optional as well. For this size if you like add ½ cup raisins to the ingredients. I baked the bread in the oven, but if you want to bake it in a frying pan it works just as well. Just make sure you don´t have too hot frying pan and you should cover with a lid. You turn the bread over while you bake it this way until it is done.

Prickly Pear Jam

Ingredients:

4 cups of prickly pear fruit and juice (from about 30 fruits)

1/4 cup of lemon or lime juice

1/2 tsp ground ginger (optional)
5 cups of sugar

Directions:

This fruit is full of rock hard seeds inside. They are like small pebbles and you want to get them all out of your jam. With a sharp knife, cut off both ends of the fruit and cut it in half. Remove the skin. Scrape out the seeds with a spoon into a bowl. They are surrounded by juice that can be used in the jam. Once the fruit and seeds are separated, put the seeds in a strainer or in a cloth ( the type used for cooking sticky rice.) Squeeze out all the juice and fruit and you will have the seeds only left. Throw them away.

Heat prickly pear fruit and juice, lemon juice and sugar in a pot. Bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes stirring constantly. Skim off the foam. Put the fruit and juice in a food processor or mix with a mixer for a minute or two until smooth. This jam thickens as it cools, so it will seem pretty loose at this point.

Ladle into sterilized jars or freeze.

Injera

Injera is  an Ethiopian and Eritrean dish. It is like a large "pancake" served with different toppings. For my injera I have made Doro Wot (Chicken Stew), Misir Wot (Spice red lentil stew) and Shiro Wot (Ground Lentil and Chickpea Stew), and also with boiled eggs. The toppings are served on the Injera and you take small pieces of the injera with your hand and scoop up the toppings to eat,

Injera

Serves about 6

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups teff flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2  tsp Instant dry yeast
4 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt

1 cup water for boiling
Plus extra water for thinning to desired consistency

Directions:

Add Teff flour to a large mixing bowl. You’ll find Teff flour at health food stores or Ethiopian or Eritrean stores. You can use other flour instead as well. Stir in some all purpose flour. Then sprinkle in a sprinkling of yeast. Add some salt, for flavor.

Next, splash on the water – enough to make it almost runny, somewhat closer to crêpe batter than pancake batter. About 4 1/2 cups. Whisk together and let sit, covered, until bubbly 3-4 hours. Stir now and then. If you want sour injeras wait – a day or two.

After 3-4 hours or after 2 or 3 days…If you let it sit for 2-3 days pour off the blackish liquid that floated to the top of the mixture. If you don´t let it stand to be sour but only 3-4 hours you will not have this blackish liquid on top. 

Whisk the batter smooth again. Next, boil a cup of water. Ladle in a half cup of the batter and whisk continually until thick and the mixture resemble toffee pudding. Let cool until lukewarm and then whisk vigorously into the Teff batter. This cooked mixture gives the teff batter the structure needed for the air pockets to form in the finished pancake. Again, make sure the mixture is almost runny, between the consistency of crêpe batter and pancake batter. Add water if needed. Let the resulting mixture rest for about 30 minutes. Wait for the bubbles to form. Preheat the largest nonstick pan you have over medium heat.

Ladle the batter into the pan. Traditional Injera will be a foot and a half round! Swirl the batter around from outside to the inner to completely coat the pan with a thin layer. Cover loosely with a large piece of foil, or a lid – but leave the lid cracked so steam can escape. Cook until the surface of the Injera dries out and is full of little holes. Also, when ready, the edges will curl.

Carefully transfer the Injera to a towel to cool (it will stick to a plate when hot). How to transfer this widemouthed flatbread: some people use large round woven discs. Others use thin wooden peels. Once cooled, you can stack the Injera as needed.

If your injera doesn’t produce enough holes, boil some more batter with water – to help thicken it up. Wisk it in. Ladle with thick, spicy stews and tear off pieces of the injera to scoop up the stew.

TOPPING FOR THE INJERA

Doro Wot (Chicken Stew)

Ingredients:

8 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs (about 2 pounds)

Juice of 1 lemon

Kosher salt

4 large eggs, at room temperature

2 large yellow onions, finely diced (about 1 pound)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/4 cups chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth

1/3 cup niter kibbeh

¼ cup berbere

Directions:

For the chicken stew: Put the chicken in a nonreactive bowl and toss with the lemon juice and 1 teaspoon salt. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. 

While the chicken is marinating, prepare a bowl with ice water. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and salt generously, making sure there is enough water to cover the eggs by 1 inch. Carefully add the eggs, bring back to a gentle boil and cook for 6 minutes. Transfer the eggs to the ice water, and shake or tap gently to crack the shells. Remove the eggs from the water and, when cool to the touch, peel. Set aside; do not refrigerate or they will not warm up in the sauce.

Put the onions in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until golden, about 10 minutes, taking care not to burn them. You may need to reduce the heat as the onions dry out.

Increase the heat to medium high; add 1/3 cup of the niter kibbeh, 1/4 cup of the berbere, the garlic, ginger, tomato paste and black pepper, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and the chicken and bring to a simmer, cover, reduce the heat to low and cook at a gentle simmer until the chicken is very tender, about 40 minutes. Remove the lid, increase the heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced and the sauce is very thick, about 45 minutes, occasionally spooning the sauce over the chicken.

Remove the pan with the chicken from the heat and add the eggs, turning to coat them in the sauce. Cover the pan and let rest for 5 minutes.

Shiro Wot – (Ground Lentil and Chickpea Stew)

1/2 cup Shiro powder (can be bought in Ethiopian and Eritrean stores or on the internet)

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp Berbere

2.5 cups water

Salt as needed

Finely chop onion and garlic and in a medium pot, sautee with olive oil for about 3-4 minutes. Add Berbere spice and a couple of tablespoons of water and simmer for about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the remaining water to the pot and carefully whisk in shiro powder a teaspoon at a time until completely combined. Let cook on low heat until it becomes thick but smooth – about 15 minutes. Salt to taste. Serve hot with Injera on the side.

Misir Wot – (Spicy Red Lentil Stew)

1.5 cups dry split red lentils

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

1 heaping tbsp Berbere spice

1 medium onion

3 cloves fresh garlic

2.5 cups water

1/2 can tomato paste (cans here in Canada are 156ml or 5.27 oz)

Salt as needed

Finely chop onion and garlic and sautee in medium sized pot with a few generous tablespoons of olive oil for about 4-5 minutes until onions are soft. Add in tomato paste and Berbere spice and stir until mixed thoroughly. If mixture is too thick, add about 1/4 cup of water. Cook mixture another 2-3 minutes stirring occasionally.

Place red lentils in a bowl and rinse thoroughly. Once rinsed, add 2.5 cups of fresh water to the bowl and add this to the onion and Berbere mixture. At medium heat, stirring occasionally, simmer until lentils are fully cooked – about 15 or 20 minutes. If mixture becomes dry before lentils are cooked, add small amounts of water to mixture until they are. (This is something I just learn to do by eye!). Once you know that they are fully cooked, stir in about 1/2 of warm water. Salt to taste. Serve hot with Injera on the side.

Niter Kibbeh (Spiced butter)

Ingredients:

1 pound unsalted butter

1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

1 teaspoon whole allspice berries

1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

6 black cardamom pods, crushed lightly with a knife blade

2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

1 small yellow onion, chopped

Directions:

For the niter kibbeh (spiced butter): Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, swirling occasionally. Stir in the ginger, allspice, fenugreek, oregano, turmeric, cardamom, garlic and onions and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the butter is clear and the milk solids remain on the bottom of the pan, about 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to low if the butter is boiling too quickly--if it burns it will taste bitter. To finish the niter kibbeh: Line a strainer with dampened cheesecloth. Skim the foam from the top of the butter and discard. Ladle the butter through the strainer, leaving behind the milk solids on the bottom of the pan. Store in a glass jar.

Berbere

Berbere mix can be bought in Ethiophian or Eritrean stores, even on the internet. However to mix your own Berbere you need:Berbere spice mix

Ingredients: 

1/3 cup New Mexico chile powder

1/4 cup paprika

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 teaspoons black cardamom seeds

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

2 teaspoons fenugreek seeds

1 teaspoon whole allspice

4 cloves

1 small stick cinnamon

Directions:

For the berbere (spice mix): Whisk together the chile powder, paprika, cayenne, ginger, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and nutmeg. Set aside. 

Put the cardamom, coriander, fenugreek, allspice, cloves and cinnamon in a small skillet and toast over medium-low heat, shaking the pan regularly, until fragrant, about 4 minutes. Cool slightly. 

Grind the toasted spices in a spice grinder to a fine powder. Add to the chile powder mixture and whisk to combine. Sift the spice mixture onto a piece of parchment paper, return to the bowl and whisk again. Return the pieces left in the sifter to the spice grinder and grind again as finely as possible; whisk into the spice mixture. Set aside.