The Ghanaian Red Red.... Today we will be visiting Ghana through food. Ghana ?? , one of the countries in West Africa and a neighboring country to our great country Nigeria.
Growing up, Ghanaians came across to me as determined and focused. I remember some of my primary school teachers were Ghanaians and they were quite dedicated. Other teachers were equally dedicated but I probably noticed the Ghanaians because of their unique accent.
Particularly with the way they pronounced 'her'. It always sounded like hair to me and as a child I was always curious as to why. I am sure they also wondered why we don't pronounce 'her' like they did. Well lets just say it's the joys of diversity. Getting to know each other better.
There was a Mrs Kamkam who my kid brother thought the song 'come come here' was about her because his teacher's pronunciation of 'come' in the song sounded like 'Kam' I remember Mr Agbleze who no one wanted to be in his Primary 6 class bcause we thought he was too strict but turned out to be one of the best primary 6 classes.
Ohh those fond memories of yesteryears.....
Anyway we met this lovely Ghanaian family in church just as we relocated to the United States. I tell you they were God sent. She has thought me a lot about friendship and Ghana. She made a lot of Shitto for me when I was preggy for my youngest. In fact she made sure to shittorize my cravings lol
How to make Ghanaian Red Red
My friend talked so much about this red red her son loved so much. Being a beans lover and food blogger I was excited to hear all about the Ghanaian Red Red and give it a try.
We never got the chance to cook it together because of time constraint so she described this recipe to me over the phone and it turned out to be one of the various ways we cook beans in Nigeria but we call it stewed beans porridge.
Ghanaian red red is made by mixing cooked beans with tomato sauce and served with fried sweet plantains.
My Dear Dzifa as the Blog topic reads this is My take on the Ghanaian Red-Red. Hope I got it right.
So what is Red-Red?
It is a simple dish of beans porridge and fried plantains. The red name originated from the color given to the beans when the Palmoil based tomato stew is mixed in.If you are a regular at our kitchen, you may have noticed we love beans and promote beans love lol. We already have about 3 delicious beans recipes so far. My decadent beans Porridge , the Tripple P porridge and the Black eyed peas porridge.
Today we present to you another beans recipe all the way from Ghana. Enjoy!!
Chichi?
Ps: If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider rating the recipe and leaving a comment below. I enjoy reading your feedback. ?
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Ghanaian Red Red
Ingredients
- 3 cups Black eyed peas (cleaned and soaked overnight)
- 2 medium onions ( chopped )
- 1 tablespoon sugar or 2 satchets of truvia sweetener. (I sweeten my black eyed peas but not my brown beans)
- 1½ cup Palm oil
- 2 tablespoon ground crayfish (optional)
- salt/ bouillon to taste
- 2 large red bell peppers ??
- 1 large plum tomato ?
- 1 Habanero or scotch bonnet pepper
- 2 garlic cloves (crushed)
- Water ??
Instructions
- Decant excess water from soaked beans,then rinse lightly careful not to peel the beans.
- When the beans begins to boil, add half of the chopped onions, sweetener and salt / bouillon to taste.
- Cook till beans is well cooked and soft but not mushy. While the beans is cooking, prepare the sauce.
The Tomato/pepper sauce:
- Wash tomatoes and peppers then blend coarsely.
- Heat up Palm oil in a sauce pan, Please watch closely. Saute the other half of the chopped onions with the crushed garlic till onions become translucent
- Pour in the tomato/pepper blend,then the crayfish. Stir in and Cook sauce till it reduces in size (water has evaporated) and is well fried. Then turn off heat.
Bringing its all together
- When the beans is well cooked, and soft to touch, reduce heat and mix in the sauce with the cooked beans until well blended.
- Turn off heat.
- Serve with fried plantains which happens to be the second 'red' in 'Red-Red'
- Or serve with sprinkle of garri (cassava flakes) over the beans.
Notes
Ghanaian in America
Love it! So easy to make thank you.