Ewa Agoyin

Nigerian Ewa Agoyin Recipe

Ewa Agoyin is one of those street food that not lots of people learned to prepare at home, there was usually no incentive to know how to make it because the food hawkers always had it and came around daily and in a timely fashion.

The beans is usually served mashed but I that is not a requirement in my opinion, the only requirement is that it should be EXTREMELY soft. I usually cook my beans in the slow cooker overnight to get the perfect texture.

Heads up for those who have never tried agoyin, it is a very oil dish but definitely worth the extra calories.

Ingredients:

The Beans:

• 2 cups Red or White beans
• Salt to taste

The Sauce:

• large onion (thinly slices) – 1
• Palm oil- 1 cup
• Salt- to taste
• Maggi- 2 cubes
• Dried blended crayfish- 1/4 cup
• Bell pepper  (tatashe) – 1
• 2 tablespoons grated ginger
• Dried Chilli Pepper (Shombo) – 12-14

Directions:

To Prepare  the Beans:

• Wash the beans under running water
• Add 6 cups of water to a pot, set on high heat and bring to a boil.
• Add the beans and reduce the heat to minimum.
• Leave on low heat for 2 hours 30 minutes or until the beans is very soft.
• Add salt to taste. Mash up the beans if you prefer.

To Prepared the Sauce: (Agoyin pepper)

• Set the dried peppers in bowl, pour over some boiling water and leave covered until the peppers are softened (I usually leave the peppers to soak overnight)

• In a blender, combine the bell pepper and soaked peppers with a bit of water. Puree to a coarse texture. Pour the pureed peppers into a sieve and leave to rest so as to remove excess water.

• Set a medium sized pot on medium heat, add the palm oil and wait for the oil to get heated

• Add in the chopped onion, stir at interval until the onion is caramelized (the color should be black but not burnt).  This takes about 20 – 30 minutes.