By Aishah Saleeman
Ingredients
• 6 large green bell peppers
• 3 medium onions, chop a half bulb and reserve
• 3 red or orange scotch bonnet (use according to preference)
• 800g assorted meat cut into small pieces (I used a combination of lungs, ponmo, shaki and beef)
• 6 boiled eggs, peeled
• 4 tbsp Iru woro (locust beans)
• 3tbs bouillon powder (I used jumbo brand)
• Salt to taste
• Two cups cooking spoon of palm oil
• Three tbsp ground crayfish (optional)
Preparation
• Boil assorted meat with One tsp bouillon, onion and salt until tender. Fry or grill assorted meat and set aside
• Add bell peppers, onions and scotch bonnet chilli to a blender or food processor on a pulse. You have 2 options here, to either boil the blender pepper till reduced in size or sieve to get rid of excess water. By boiling or sieving the pepper would reduce the cooking time.
• Place a clean and sturdy pan on low heat, pour palm oil and bleach till palm oil is transparent but not black (this should take about 15 to 20 minutes if done on low heat). Alternatively, keep the pot covered during the whole process to avoid a smoky kitchen. Do a pepper test for the oil; dip a white paper in the oil and if it comes out clean and translucent then it’s ok to be used for the stew.
• Please ensure you keep your kitchen well ventilated during this process.
• If you see the residue in the oil, allow the palm oil to cool down a bit and swap pan to a clean one then carefully pour the oil leaving the dirt out.
• Return the swapped clean pan with bleached palm oil on medium heat, and then add the chopped onions, then the locust beans. After about 30 seconds of frying add the cubed assorted meat and fry until golden (anything between three to five minutes)
• Add the boiled pepper and cook for about five minutes. Add little water to dilute if the sauce is thick and reduce the heat.
• Add the boiled assorted meat (you can either chop it into smaller sizes or leave it whole)
• Add boiled eggs, stir in gently so as not to break them.
• Add bouillon powder and salt to taste, add crayfish and continue to cook on low heat, don’t forget to stir in between to avoid burning. (you can either leave the pot open or cover with a lid. I don’t cover with a lid as I cook on low heat which reduces splatter)
• Continue to cook the stew until palm oil floats on the top and the colour of the pepper is changed from green to brown.
• Leave to rest for about five minutes and serve with boiled ofada rice or plain boiled rice.
It is mostly eaten with ofada rice or plain white rice. You can also serve it boiled yam.
