Nigerian Stewed Beans and Fried Plantain

God knows I love beans, honestly if I could only cook with one ingredient for the rest of my life it would most likely be beans.

I can’t even begin to count the number of incredible beans recipes I have on this blog, from Moimoi, to akara, to rice and beans (plain), rice and beans (coconut), rice and beans (jollof), Gbegiri, agoyin beans etc.

What defines a great dish of beans for me is texture, the beans should be super soft without being all mushy. My number one trick to achieving this is soaking . This greatly softens the beans making it cook faster without breaking apart. There are also other health benefits including potential reduction to the flatulence effect of beans.

So here is how to go about cooking that perfect Nigerian Stewed beans.

Ingredients

• 3 cups cleaned beans (brown or black eyed)
• 1/3 cup palm oil
• 2 tbspn coconut oil (optional)
• 1 large onion (minced)
• 1 cup stew base (substitute 1-2 tbspns ground pepper)*
• 1 tspn ginger powder
• 1/3 cup crayfish powder
• 2 maggi cubes (optional)
• Salt – to taste

*You can blend 2 bell peppers, 1 hot pepper and 1/2 small onion as an alternative.

Want to use an instant pot to cook your beans? Watch this video

Direction

• Soak the beans in lots of water. Leave to soak overnight or for up to 24hrs. Strain.

• Place a large pot on medium-low heat, add in beans. Add in 6-8 cups of water. Simmer for 1 hour or until beans is soft to the touch. Turn off the heat and leave the beans in water while you make the sauce

• Place another pan on medium heat, add in palm oil and coconut oil if using. Add in chopped onion. Fry until onion is well fried and golden.
• Add in stew base, ginger, crayfish, maggi and salt. Simmer covered for 12-15 minutes

• Strain the beans (but reserve the water).

o For thick “woroworo” Beans

• Add strained beans into the sauce and 2/3 cup of strained beans water. Stir. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Cover and leave to simmer for 30 more mins on low-medium heat.

o For thick “mushy” beans

• Remove 1/3 of the cooked beans from the strainer, mash until smooth. Add both mashed and unmashed beans into the sauce. Add 1-1.5 cups strained beans water. Stir. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Cover and leave to cook for 30 more mins on low-medium heat.

Enjoy beans with fried plain, warm bread or garri.