Plantain Fritters

Plantain Fritters

Happy New NCC readers! Thank you all for continuously checking out my blog, Facebook page and your emails about questions regarding my recipes your support is really appreciated and I am always delighted to answer any questions. Hope your year started well and I wish you the very best for 2016.

So I came across a recipe for “plantain mosa” a popular Nigerian street food made with over ripped plantains. With a slight twist omitting the yeast that makes the mosa puffy, I made plantain fritters instead served and with prawns smeared in hot chilli sauce . Follow the simple recipe below to try this delicious fritter. Aprons on!!!

Serving for 4

Ingredients

Ingrdients

4 over ripped plantains

3 stalk of spring onions

1 scotch bonnet pepper

2 eggs

Coconut milk powder

Flour

Baking powder

Ginger

Garlic

Salt

Cooking oil

Directions

1.      Peel and mash plantain in a mixing bowl using fork

2.      Finely chop spring onions and pepper and add to bowl  

3.      Add half a tea spoon grated garlic and ginger

4.      Beat eggs and pour into bowl

5.      Add a tea spoon of coconut milk powder, with a 4 table spoons of plain flour, a pinch of salt and baking powder

Add caption

6.      Mix all the ingredients and let it sit for 5 minutes

7.      Preheat oil in frying pan

                     

Mixture ready for frying

8.      Once the oil is heated, scoop the mixture using serving spoon and add to oil to fry fritters until brown. 

9.      Once fried, place fried fritters on paper towel to drain any excess oil.

Frying frittes

Voila! Dish is done!

Delicious Dish 

“Awojoh” Feasting

Spread of delicious West African party food

Hello Readers, it’s been awhile since my last post and I feel like I have neglected you guys. My apologies. I am sure you are all doing fantastic. So I did my first catering gig this weekend and it was a very good experience and I am happy I took up the challenge as it was an impromptu request and I was a bit hesitant to accept it.

I had a week to sort out shopping and prep for 4 main dishes and 3 accompaniments for about 100 guests. With the help of my amazing family and friends I pulled it off.

“Awojoh” - loosely translated, community feast to celebrate the life of the deceased.

In Sierra Leone, as a tradition, an Awojoh takes place after the 40^th day or the one year anniversary of a deceased person. The common dishes for this sort of occasion are “aborbor” (Black eyed beans stew) with fried plantain, sweet potato fried in palm oil, beans akara, olehleh, foofoo with a vareity of soups and palm oil fry stew. Some of the recipes of the above could be found by clicking here. 

Nina's Cookery Corner 

On this occasion however, most of the traditional dishes were not prepared as the client opted for the more common party dishes.
The menu was;

Jollof Rice

Fry Stew

Fried Rice

Rice Sticks (Vermicelli)

Pepper Chicken

Fried Plantain and

Akara

All the recipes for the above dishes can be found on my blog by following the link below. http://ninascookerycorner.blogspot.co.uk/

Feast your eyes on the dishes and hope you get to replicate them.

If you’re planning an event, dinner party and want the burden of cooking off your hands, why not let me be your super hero and cater to your needs. Enjoy reading try out the dishes and send me your feedback. Aprons on!

Spread of delicious West African party food

“Ramadan Iftar” Black Eyed Beans, Cassava and Plantain

 Yum Yum 

Hello NCC readers! I know I have been away for a while due summer social calendar. Luckily I found time to spruce up something really quick and easy to prepare. As Ramadan is almost over, I decided to make a dish that is a popular during this fasting period. Black eyed beans stew with boiled cassava and fried plantain a dish full of protein and carbohydrate.

Serving for 4

Ingredients

1. 250g of Black Eyed Beans
2. 2 Plantain
3. 2 medium sized cassava
4. Whole broiler smoked chicken
5. 3 smoked bonga and 1 mackerel fish
6. 1 tin of chopped tomato
7. 6 medium size onions
8. 4 scotch peppers
9. Maggie seasoning
10. Palm oil

Cooking Instructions

Plantain

1. Peel plantain and slice them side ways
2. Deep fry the plantains in the palm oil until they are golden brown and put them aside

Cassava

1. Peel cassava and cut into chunky cubes.
2. Boil Cassava for 10 minutes or until soft and put aside 

Black Eyed Beans Stew

 Fried Stew and smoked fish

1.      Wash and bring beans to boil until soft approximately for 1hr 30 minutes

2.      Cut up smoked chicken and bring to boil until tender.

3.      Peel and break smoked fish into small pieces and put aside

4.      Peel and slice onions.

5.       Blend one onion with scotch peppers

6.      Pour about 100ml of palm oil into hot sauce pan and heat to cooking temperature.

7.      Once oil is heated, fry sliced onions, chopped tomato and bonga fish together.

8.      Add bits of blended pepper and onions into the stew whilst the above is cooking.

9.      Add season and salt for flavour with the boiled smoked chicken.

10.  Add boiled beans to the pot with fried stew. Mix together and turn the heat low.

11.  Leave stew to cook for a further 15 minutes or until all the water from the stew has evaporated and you have a really dry stew.

    

Black eyed beans stew with boiled cassava and fried plantain

Voila! Dish is done!  

Good Friday Feast

Fried plantain, sweet potato, orlehleh and gungo beans stew

Happy Easter NCC readers! Christ is risen! Hope you've all enjoyed your Easter break so far. Today’s post is a Good Friday feast. As a tradition in Sierra Leone, on Good Friday we tend to stay away from cooking meat and instead make lots of tasty savoury treats with or without fish. 

I decided to make Gungo Beans Stew with fish, Fried Plantain, Fried Sweet Potato and Beans Dumplings known as “Orlehleh” or “Moi Moi” by Nigerians. Moi Moi is slighty different from the Sierra Leone “Orlehleh” as other ingredients such as corned beef is added to thicken the mixture before cooking and boiled egg is also added as garnish. 

The “Orlehleh” mixtue can be made by using readymade beans flour or using raw black-eyed beans. The beans will have to be soaked in water overnight. This will help remove the skin/chaff and the “black eye” from the beans easily. Next rub the beans with both hands thoroughly to remove the skin/chaff and the “black eye” from the beans. Once all the skin/chaff and the “black eye” have been removed, put the beans in a blender and blend to a smooth consistency. After the above steps, the mixture is now ready to be mixed with other ingredients for the “Orlehleh”. Enjoy reading the rest of the post. Aprons on!

Ingredients

Ingredients 

1. Pack of Gungo Beans
2. Plantain
3. Sweet Potato
4. Black eye beans flour
5. 6 dried bonga fish
6. 1 tin of chopped tomato
7. 6 medium size onions
8. 4 scotch peppers
9. Seasoning
10. Oil
11. Tomato puree

  

Cooking Instructions

Beans Dumpling “Orlehleh”

1.      Add two cups beans flour into mixing bowl and add one cup of water and mix together until you have a smooth consistency

2.      Add to blender with one onion, two scotch peppers and one tin chopped tomato, two maggie cube season, half a teaspoon of salt, 50ml olive or vegetable oil and blend together.

3.      Pour mixture into a mixing bowl. The mixture should be a slightly thick consistency. If it is too runny add as much bean flour to thickening it up.

4.      Peel and break 2 bonga fish into small pieces and add to the mixture and mix together with a wooden

orlehleh mixture wrapped in banana leaves

spoon.

5.      Wash and dry banana leaves or you can use tin foil containers or small plastic bowls with covers as an alternative.

6.      Smear the banana leaves or container with a bit of oil.

7.      Scoop a ladle spoon full of the mixture and pour into banana leaves or containers that you have at your disposal.

8.      If using banana leaves wrap the mixture, with the leaves left, right top and bottom and flip upside and put all wrapped mixture or containers in plastic shopping bag bowl.

9.      Take a sizable pot that will fit all the wrapped mixture or container.

10.  Layer the pot with foil. Pour a kettle full of boiled water into the pot and then put the plastic bag into the pot. Tie the bag loosely and cover the pot.

11.  Leave the pot to steam in low heat for 45-60 mins.

12.  After 60 min open wrap or container to see if the mixture has hardened up and has cooked.

Plantain 

Steamed Orlehleh

1. Peel plantain and slice them side ways
2. Deep fry the plantains until they are golden brown and put them aside

Sweet Potato

1. Peel sweet potato and slice them to a shape of your desire. 
2. Deep fry the sweet potato until they are golden brown and put them aside   

Guno Beans Stew

1.      Wash and bring to beans to boil until soft approximately 1hr 30 min

2.      Peel and slice onoins then blend one onion with 2 scotch peppers

3.      Peel and break bonga fish into small pieces and put aside.

4.      Pour about 100ml of oil into hot sauce pan and heat to cooking temperature.

5.      Once oil is heated, fry sliced onions, chopped tomato and bonga fish together.

6.      Add bits of blended pepper and onions into the stew whilst the above is cooking.

7.      Add season and salt for flavour and 2 squeezes of tomato puree to give the stew colour.

8.      Add boil beans to the pot with fried stew. Mix together and turn the heat low.

9.      Leave stew to cook for a further 15 minutes or until all the water from the stew has evaporated and you have a really dry stew.

Fried plantain, sweet potato, orlehleh and gungo beans stew

Voila! Dish is done!