West Africa Archives | National Dish

Zimbabwean and African Oxtail Stew | National Dish Recipe

Wayne @NationalDish — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 14:09:43 +0000

Oxtail Stew, especially when coming from Africa, is insane.

Some people get a little weird about cooking with oxtail – which I sort of get, sort of (I’m being a little polite), but they wouldn’t have an issue with oxtail soup from a can, and it tastes way better when you make it fresh.

Everyone knows, anything you cook low and slow, on the bone, is gonna be awesome, this African oxtail stew recipe is no different.

In terms of the country of origin for this oxtail stew recipe, I could have gone British, it’s very traditional. Oxtail is a fascinating ingredient, used all over the world and Sub-Saharan Africa in particular is a massive consumer and I love African cuisine, which is only going to get more popular, plus it has some spice, which = winner. I’ve tried a few and this one is from Zimbabwe.

I’ve said it’s really easy and it is. 30 mins prep and then let is sit in the oven for 3 hours. Before we get going, whack the oven on full and pop a cast iron casserole dish in there – do this first, put the kettle on too for beef stock.

Oxtail Stew Recipe

Oven is on and the casserole dish should be in there getting nice and hot - we'll roast of the oxtails for 20 minutes before adding the stew ingredients and then you can go to the pub for a couple of hours.

CourseMain Dish
CuisineAfrican, Zimbabwean
KeywordAfrica, Oxtail, Stew

Servings4 people

Prep Time30 minutes

Cook Time3 hours

Ingredients

650grams oxtailcut into chunks - as they come is fine
2whole white onionroughly chopped
2whole bay leaves
3 birdseye chilliessliced
2tbls plain flourto dust the oxtail
500ml beef stockboil the kettle up front and get this ready
3cloves garliccrushed or finely chopped
1tin chopped tomatoes400g tin will do it
2 green pepperde-seeded and chopped into handy chunks
1tsp curry powderyup, gives it a slightly different angle - this one is rather important
1tsp thymefresh is ideal but dried will do - just don't leave it out
2tbls tomato puree

Instructions

Ok, before we start chopping everything up, let's sort the oxtail out. The casserole dish should be in the oven and either getting very hot or already is. In this order, oil the oxtail and then season generously with Maldon Sea Salt and dust with the flour.
Pull the hot casserole dish out of the oven and put on the hob, add a couple of tablespoons of oil and then add all the oxtail (or in batches). Put the lid on and place back into the oven for 20 minutes - no more though, lets not burn the oxtail. During this time you can prep the other ingredients - do the beef stock first. You can seal it on the hob too, but I found this way gives the Oxtail a better finish.
Pull the casserole pot out of the oven and turn the heat down to 140 degrees. Remove the oxtail and put aside and place the casserole dish on hob, medium heat. The Oxtail should be gnarly leaving behind some tasty fat for the next step.
Add all the onions and fry for 5 minutes and then add the garlic, chillies, green pepper, thyme, curry powder and tomato puree. Stir and fry for another few minutes, gently until soft. Then add all the beef stock and bayleaves.
Give it a good stir and add the oxtail back in, push below the surface of the sauce (top up with water if you need to) and replace the lid. Place into the oven for 3 hours at 140 degrees. Check it hourly and prevent it drying out by adding more water.
You'll then have a deep bath for the Oxtail, ready to go in the oven - you can then chill. Won't hurt to check it half way through, to make sure you haven't lost too much liquid.
After three hours the meat should have been falling off the bones and you should have plenty of sauce - it serves wonderfully with white rice, but that's up to you - why not just grab a bowl and crusty bread?
Thank you Zimbabwe, Africa

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Côte d’Ivoirian fried plantain with roasted nuts | How do you make Alloco or Kelewele | What is the national dish of The Ivory Coast

Wayne @NationalDish — Thu, 13 Apr 2017 20:24:11 +0000

Street food that kids will love, this is finished in Ghanaian style but is the Côte d’Ivoire recipe
Photograph: Wayne Morgan – nationaldish.co.uk © 2017

I’ve sort of done two recipes in one. Alloco, which is known as Kelewele in Ghana (also Dodo in Nigeria and Makemba in the Democratic Republic of Congo) is a common West African street food and side dish. So, how do you make Alloco?

I’ve added roasted nuts to this version, which would make it Ghanaian, but the base is the Ivory Coast recipe – you decide.

How do you make Alloco | Kelewele | Fried plantain with roasted nuts

If you think you can remember, get a wok or saucepan and heat enough vegetable oil for the plantain to float when cooking, heat it slowly whilst you do the prep.

CourseSide Dish, Snack, Starter
CuisineAfrican, Côte d'Ivoirian, Ghanaian

Servings2 people

Prep Time10 minutes

Cook Time15 minutes

Ingredients

Main stuff

1ripe plantainsliced at an angle slightly less than 1cm wide
200ml vegetable oilenough to stop the plantain touching the pan when cooking
1small handful salted peanuts
1small handful pistachio nutsshelled, obvs

Spice mix

1tsp cayenne pepper
1tsp garlic powder
1small chunk fresh gingerfinely grated
1tsp sea salt flakes

Instructions

Place a heavy bottomed frying pan on a medium high heat and add the nuts, move them around from time to time, don't let them burn. At the same time, on a low heat, place a wok and slowly heat enough vegetable oil to fry the plantain (they will float) - keep an eye on this too. Peel and slice the plantain, at an angle.
In a bowl add all the spice mix and then the sliced plantain - be gentle, don't mash em.
When done, the plantain should be a lovely golden brown, covered in the spice dust.
Give the nuts another wiggle, if you think they're done, turn the heat off and let them sit in the pan.
Get the oil in the wok hot enough to fry, using a slotted spoon, dip one of the plantain slices, if you get an instant reaction, it's ready. In batches, lower in enough plantain so they're not overcrowded and cook for about 4-5 minutes - don't burn them, if they look too dark, it's been too long.
On a plate, place a few layers of kitchen towel and using a slotted spoon, fish out the plantain and place on the plate to drain - note the colour, that's done.
Once all cooked, pile high on a serving plate and sprinkle over the nuts.
Thank you Côte d'Ivoire

Merci

The post Côte d’Ivoirian fried plantain with roasted nuts | How do you make Alloco or Kelewele | What is the national dish of The Ivory Coast appeared first on National Dish.

How do you make Nigerian lamb Suya? | Rago Suya | What is the national dish of Nigeria?

Wayne @NationalDish — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 20:43:24 +0000

Nigerian lamb Suya, a seriously cool street food kebab, great served with Ghanaian Jollof cauliflower rice
Photograph: Wayne Morgan – nationaldish.co.uk © 2017

Africa is a amazing place, with food all to often hard to come by for far too many people. That said, amazing things happen when they cook. Nigerian Lamb Suya is rather unique, a West African dish that is great fun to cook and far more than just a kebab.

Paired this one up with a cauliflower Jollof rice dish from Ghana.

Rago Suya | Nigerian lamb Suya a West African street food shish kebab

This requires some grinding and marinating after which it's rather straight forward. You will need skewers, if using wood it help to soak them in water for an hour first, prevents them from burning when you cook them. I have cooked this using a griddle pan on the hob, but a BBQ would be even better.

Servings2 people

Prep Time25 minutes

Cook Time25 minutes

Ingredients

The marinade - KuliKuli

5tbsp roasted peanutsnot dry roasted, salted is fine
1tsp cayenne pepper
1tsp dried chilli flakes
1tsp chilli powder
1tsp smoked paprika powder
1tsp sea salt flakes
1tsp ground ginger
1tsp garlic powder

For the kebabs

2leg steaks lambcut in to large chunks
1medium white onionchopped in to large chunks, not stupid little things, go CHUNKY
1medium red onionchopped in to chunks, same size as the white onion
1large tomatochopped in to chunks, similar size to the onions
1 red pepperchopped in to chunks, you can guess what size
1bunch fresh corianderleaves roughly chopped for garnish

Instructions

Marinade

Add all the marinade ingredients to a Magimix or spice grinder and blitz until as powdery as you can without turning the peanuts in to a paste - this is called KuliKuli.
Once you're happy, remove a third and leave aside. Place the remainder into a mixing bowl along with all the lamb and make sure it gets fully coated and leave it for 30 minutes and heat up the griddle or BBQ - very hot.

Kebabs

Get the, hopefully wet, skewers and start loading them up - you want to aim for 4. I prefer to start with onion, as a stopper, then pepper and then a chunk of lamb. Continue filling the kebab, alternating between red and white onion - again, best to finish with a chunk of onion.
When done you'll have a beautifully colourful quartet of kebabs. Drizzle a little oil over them and feel free to throw a pinch of salt at them too - uhhhhhh
Griddle should be very hot by now - whip em on. Trick here is to keep them turning, about every minute or so, building up the colour.
Because kebabs won't sit particularly flat to the griddle, you can take a heavy pan and sit it on top of them - this will bring more of the kebab in to contact with the heat. Still got to keep turning them to prevent burning.
When they're done, either serve up on the skewer or remove and serve with some Jollof Rice, a handful of roughly chopped coriander leaves and then, either on the side or sprinkled over the top, the remaining KuliKuli.
Removed makes it much easier to eat though.
Thank you Nigeria

Na gode

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Ghanaian Jollof cauliflower rice with crayfish tails | Jollof Shinkafa | What is the national dish of Ghana?

Wayne @NationalDish — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 20:42:03 +0000

Jollof Rice is a dish that features in may West African countries, Ghana being one of the foremost.

The beautiful red colour that this dish carries is all down to the palm oil, the oil of choice for the region.

It is often cooked with various meat, such as chicken and/or beer, this version contains crayfish tails and cauliflower rice. That makes this a side dish version, in this case, served with Nigerian Lamb Suya.

Jollof Shinkafa | Ghanaian Jollof cauliflower rice with crayfish tails

Take a look at the cauliflower rice recipe first, cook it for three minutes and then come back here - you'll be gone 5 minutes.

If you were to cook Jollof Rice with actual rice, you would follow the same method here but use more liquid as the rice would absorb it. In this case, we still use a good volume of liquid but let it reduce and concentrate to build the flavour and then mix the rice through it and logically thinking, this version should have a deeper flavour and it's totally healthier.

CourseMain Dish, Side Dish
CuisineAfrican, Ghanaian, West African

Servings2 people

Prep Time20 minutes

Cook Time45 minutes

Ingredients

For the cauliflower rice

1medium cauliflowergrated in to a microwaveable bowl mixed with a handful of finely chopped coriander stalks
1bunch fresh corianderstalks finely chopped and added to cauliflower rice and leaves roughly chopped for garnish

For the sauce

1tin chopped tomatoesor 6 large tomatoes chopped
1large white onionchopped
200g tomato puree
4tbls red palm oil
1tsp sea salt flakesseason carefully to taste
150g crayfish tailspre-cooked is fine.
150g okra
500ml fish stock
1/2 red pepperchopped in to bite sized chunks

All the spices (for the sauce)

1 scotch bonnet chillifinely chopped, deseed if it bothers you
1pinch cumin powder
1/2 nutmegfinely grated
2cloves garlicfinely chooped
1tsp cinnamon powder
1tsp chilli powder

Instructions

Heat a chef's pan or wok over a medium heat and add all the Palm Oil, don't let it burn. Once it's hot enough, add the onion and enjoy the colour transformation, this should get you in the mood.
When the onion has softened add all the spices and stir. Next add the tomato puree, stir and then add the tinned chopped tomatoes - stir, you should then have a good base.
Pour in 200ml of the fish stock and you'll have a rather wet mixture. You need to make 500ml (or the maximum that the stock cube states, unless you make it yourself) but only use 200ml of it for the two people portion - you don't want it over concentrated. If you were cooking rice you would use more as the rice would absorb the stock, not so when using cauliflower, and do not worry about loss of flavour, we're about to go to town on flavour.
Leave this mixture to simmer and reduce, halfway through (see pic) add the red peppers and okra and then reduce further until you get a wet paste - this process will concentrate the flavour. Now is the time to taste and season with salt, carefully!
When happy, add your cauliflower rice, which should have been pre-made and cooked for 3 minutes, stir and then add the crayfish.
From here, it's just a case of mixing everything together and heating it through - a few mins tops.
Grab a warm serving plate, big pile in the middle and garnish with roughly chopped coriander leaves. If you can get it, serve with Hot Shito Sauce.
Thank you Ghana

Na gode

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