west african

<em>Nigerian-inspired, protein-rich vegan egusi stew. Enjoy this with rice, yams, plantains, sweet or regular potatoes. </em>

Nigerian-inspired Vegan Egusi (Melon) Seed Stew with Tofu

tin plum tomatoes

red onion,

garlic cloves

red bell pepper

red chilli

½ inch ginger

egusi (melon seeds)

pack tofu, drained and cubed

vegetable stock cubes

olive oil

chopped kale or spinach

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line a baking tray with baking paper then evenly distribute tofu on the tray and bake for 25 minutes, turning halfway through cooking until all sides are golden then set aside and keep warm.

Put the tomatoes, red onion, garlic cloves, bell pepper, ginger and chilli in a food processor and blitz to form a smooth liquid. Tip the mixture into a medium saucepan and cook on a medium heat for 25 minutes until the sauce reduces to a very thick paste.

Heat the olive oil in another saucepan over medium heat. Once hot, add the ground egusi and fry, stirring frequently for 4 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, fry for an additional two minutes then add around 200ml of water. Add the vegetable stock cube and adjust seasoning as needed with salt pepper. Allow to cook on medium heat for 3 minutes then add kale and tofu. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until the kale is tender then serve over rice.

Egusi seeds—the large seeds of an African melon—are toasted and ground to thicken this popular Nirgerian stew.

Egusi Stew With Goat

onions

garlic

tomatoes,

ginger

Scotch bonnet pepper

red palm oil

egusi seeds

crayfish powder

Maggi cubes

iru powder

chicken stock

goat shoulder, cubed

Kosher salt

canola oil

pumpkin leaf

Epicurious

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, sweat the onion, garlic, tomatoes, ginger, and Scotch bonnet pepper in the palm oil until vegetables are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the egusi seeds and toast in oil for 10 minutes. Add crayfish powder, Maggi, iru, and chicken stock and simmer for 30 minutes

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, over high heat, season the goat meat with salt and sear in canola oil until browned on all sides, about 7 minutes. Add the goat meat to the egusi mixture and simmer together for about an hour, or until the meat is tender. Add the pumpkin leaves during the last 20 minutes of cooking. The sauce should be thick and most of the liquid should have simmered off.

Season to taste with salt. Swerve with fufu or pounded yam.

Peanut butter lends its nutty, creamy texture to this hearty one-pot chicken and greens dish with an irresistible sauce you’ll want to serve over plenty of rice.

Peanut-Butter-Braised Chicken and Greens

collard greens

lb. skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 3" pieces

tsp. pepper

Tbsp.

Tbsp. avocado oil oil

red onions, thinly sliced

garlic cloves, finely chopped

Scotch bonnet

tomato paste

tomatoes

peanut butter

Tbsp. chipotle chile powder

thyme

coconut milk (from two 13.5-oz. cans)

white rice and lemon wedges (for serving)

This is a West African–inspired dish featuring collard greens and seared chicken thighs that get cooked with smoky chipotle chili, peanut butter, tomato, habanero, and coconut milk. The ensuing sauce is luscious, savory, and irresistibly spicy.

Bon Appétit

Preheat oven to 375°. Remove ribs and stems from 1 large bunch collard greens and finely chop, then chop leaves. Set aside.

Sprinkle 3 lb. skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 3" pieces, on both sides with 1 tsp. freshly ground pepper and 1 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¾ tsp. Morton kosher salt. Heat 3 Tbsp. avocado oil or vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high. Working in batches if needed, cook chicken, turning occasionally, until golden but not cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

Reduce heat to medium. Cook 2 medium red onions, thinly sliced, 15 large garlic cloves, finely chopped, and remaining 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 2¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt in pot, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden, about 5 minutes. Add 1 Scotch bonnet or habanero chile, finely chopped, and ¼ cup tomato paste; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add one 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes, ½ cup natural peanut butter, 1 Tbsp. chipotle chile powder, and 1 Tbsp. dried thyme, then pour in 2 cups unsweetened coconut milk (from two 13.5-oz. cans). Mix well; bring to a simmer. Add reserved greens; return chicken to pot. Cover and transfer to oven. Braise until greens are tender and chicken is cooked through, 30–35 minutes.

Serve chicken and greens with steamed white rice and lemon wedges for squeezing over.

It’s hard to think of a more iconic West African dish than jollof rice, the red-tinged rice dish with depth, thanks to aromatics and spices that meld into a comforting tomato base. “Jollof is really a one-pot meal that is very adaptable,” says chef Isaiah Screetch, who adapted this recipe that plays with, but honors the Nigerian version of the dish, with plenty of heat from habanero and serrano chiles. Fit to feed a crowd, it makes a perfect base for skewers of grilled suya or a braised entree like Jamaican oxtail stew, partnered with a side of fried plantains.

Smoky Jollof Rice

Roma tomatoes,

red bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped

habanero chile, destemmed

serrano chiles, destemmed

garlic cloves,

red onion, diced

sea salt,

smoked paprika

curry powder

cumin

cayenne

black pepper

turmeric

basmati rice

bay leaves

chicken bouillon (preferably Knorr)

scallions

cilantro

NYT Cooking

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/08/07/multimedia/05FAMILY-REUNIONREX3-jollof-rice-kjhg/FAMILY-REUNIONREX3-jollof-rice-kjhg-videoSixteenByNineJumbo1600.jpg

Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/08/07/multimedia/05FAMILY-REUNIONREX3-jollof-rice-kjhg/FAMILY-REUNIONREX3-jollof-rice-kjhg-googleFourByThree.jpg

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/08/07/multimedia/05FAMILY-REUNIONREX3-jollof-rice-kjhg/FAMILY-REUNIONREX3-jollof-rice-kjhg-mediumSquareAt3X.jpg

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/08/07/multimedia/05FAMILY-REUNIONREX3-jollof-rice-kjhg/FAMILY-REUNIONREX3-jollof-rice-kjhg-facebookJumbo.jpg

Prepare the tomato mixture: In a blender, combine tomatoes, bell pepper, habanero, serranos, garlic, ginger and 2 cups water. Blend on high until smooth; set aside.

Prepare the rice: Heat olive oil in a large, lidded pot over medium. Add onion and salt and sauté, stirring occasionally, until onion starts to soften, 4 to 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and sauté, stirring often, for 2 to 3 minutes until the oil turns orange and the tomato paste darkens. Add paprika, curry powder, cumin, thyme, cayenne, black pepper and turmeric; stir and continue cooking until everything is well combined, 1 to 2 minutes.

Turn off the heat and stir in the rice, making sure every grain of rice is coated. Add bay leaves and chicken bouillon.

Turn heat to high, stir in tomato mixture and bring to a simmer. Cover with a tight-fitting lid, adjust heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Do not remove the lid or stir rice.

Turn off heat after 20 minutes and set a timer for 15 minutes. Allow rice to sit and do not remove the lid.

After the 15 minutes are up, remove lid, and fluff rice with a fork, separating all the grains. If rice seems to be a little undercooked, stop fluffing, steam for another 5 minutes and check again.

Serve garnished with scallions and cilantro.

I would cut back the amount of oil used and also think 20 minutes wasn't enough cooking time - rice came out a bit toothy. I also subbed out Poks Jollof Rice seasoning for all the spices - delicious!

Perfection! Very straightforward preparation, yielding very flavorful results. This is a recipe I will save and make many times over. I cooked this in an enameled cast iron pan, and stirred twice during cooking only because I am terrible at judging the simmering temp for rice. It still came out great. I also subbed unrefined palm oil for half of the olive oil. I highly recommend trying that, for a little smoky funk.

I wouldn’t make this recipe again. The rice burnt twice as there is not enough liquid in the recipe. I am a confident cook and managed to save it but the rice did not cook uniformly through the recipe without stirring it. I halved the chilli but it was still nice and spicy. Good flavours despite having to babysit the cooking process.

*Use 3c. of water*
As written, there is not enough water in this recipe. I relied on my go-to rice cooking method: 1. Rinse rice until water runs clear
2. Use 1 1/3c. water for every cup of rice.  I cut the recipe by about half: 1 1/2 c. rice, so kept 2 c. water in step 1. 
3. Bring to a boil before reducing to low simmer and covering. Cooked as directed (20mins on, 15mins off). 
The dish was perfect. Will be making every week!

@Hans Deseure same thing happened to me. Even after switching pots the rice was still catching on the bottom of the pan

Rice started to burn… .  Seems like totally insufficient liquid.  Rescued it into another pot and added water.  Next time I will pre soak the rice or try even lower heat.  When using a cast iron pot, the temperature stays high for longer, perhaps that explains the difference?

VERY flavorful. I omitted the cayenne pepper since there already are two whole serranos and one whole habanero in the recipe, and the jollof is still pleasantly hot. 
I also heeded the suggestion of a commenter and added more water than specified in the recipe, but I went too far in the other direction and ended up with very moist rice. Next time, I’ll go with the 2 cups and see where I end up. 
Finally, 20 minutes on medium-low resulted in something like a tahdig on the bottom of the dish. If you like that, no problem. If you want uniformly cooked rice, turn it down to low.

The two cups of water should be included in the tomato mixture part of the recipe. Otherwise it's a great recipe, make sure to stir the rice instead of letting it sit, as the recipe says. Because I ended up with half crunchy half done rice.

I found that the rice was not fully cooked and started burning.  Maybe needs more water.

Re the (missing?)amount of water: some say it’s mentioned in either step 2 or step 4. I do not see any additional liquid mentioned anywhere. Please advise. TIA.

Yes, there's 2 c. of water in the tomato mixture, but even with the other veg, that does not seem like enough water for over 2 c. of rice. Is the chicken bouillon supposed to be reconstituted?

If you can find it at a Mediterranean market, try it with SMOKED basmati rice!

I personally use more water than this, but one option is to soak the basmati rice first (as is done in a lot of S Asian cooking), and then drain it. It will need less water.

@Ilsa K. I hate to suggest this…but is there a chance that you didn’t put a lid on the pot? A tight one, which would’ve kept all the water from boiling away?

Your saga (which is definitely disheartening!) sounds like exactly what would happen if a person was boiling rice in an uncovered pot.

So great flavor, and I followed recipe closely, but whoa, amount of liquid and cook time for the rice way off. Did the 20 min heat + 15 off heat (undisturbed) and rice was crunchy. Another 0.5 cup water, 5 min, twice, then getting frustrated so put 1 cup water for 5 more minutes. Then ANOTHER cup and another 5 minutes and turned up the heat. Disappointing results—no fluffy, all mushy 😑.

The tomato mixture prepped in Step 1, then added to the rice in step 4, includes 2 cups of water (in addition to pureed tomatoes etc.)

i read the recipe several times but could not figure out the amount of liquid -- soup, water? which is key to a good rice dish

Never heard that West Africans use olive oil! West African cuisine typically relies more on locally available oils like palm oil, groundnut (peanut) oil, and coconut oil.

I think recipe should specify the amount of water to add to chicken bouillon and boil, prior to step 3. Sounds good and very simple. Nice.

The flavor of this rice dish was excellent. Only used one Serrano chili and it was way too spicy. Recipe is correct is saying enough for a crowd. I’d make again with another adjustment to the heat.

The tomato mixture added in Step 4 includes 2 C water. In Step 3 you only stir to coat the rice, then add the liquid in Step 4.

what amount of water does the recipe suggest? two tomatoes do not seem to be sufficient amount of liquid for 2 1/4 cups of thirsty (basmati) rice.

Top 4 west african recipes from across the web

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Top Tags

Nigerian-inspired Vegan Egusi (Melo...

Egusi Stew With Goat

Peanut-Butter-Braised Chicken and G...

Smoky Jollof Rice

Top 4 west african recipes from across the web

The most viewed west african recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Nigerian-inspired Vegan Egusi (Melo...

Egusi Stew With Goat

Peanut-Butter-Braised Chicken and G...

Smoky Jollof Rice

The most viewed west african recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine