Pascal Okere

• Post By Pascal Okere
• 2 years ago

BEANS RECIPE

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MAIN INGREDIENTS
🔹2 cups of beans of choice (brown, black eyed or honey beans)
🔹2 large bulbs onions
🔹Pepper (to taste)
🔹3 cooking spoon palm oil (less or more)
🔹Stock cubes (to taste)
🔹Salt (to taste)
🔹5 tablespoons crayfish
🔹Shredded dry/smoked fish (of choice)

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS
🔸Meat, fish or chicken stock
🔸4 fresh tomatoes
🔸2 Red bell pepper
🔸3 cloves garlic
🔸Small minced ginger
🔸Prawns or shrimps
🔸Pumpkin leaf
🔸Scent leaf
🔸Bay leaf
🔸Kpomo

ALTERNATIVE INGREDIENTS
♦️Beans (of choice)
♦️Fresh or dry peppers
♦️Dry or smoked fish
♦️Prawns or shrimps
♦️Pumpkin leaf or scent leaf
♦️Fresh or powdered garlic/ginger

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SOFTEN THE BEANS QUICK WITH ANY OF THE FOLLOWINGS
▪Onions
▪Potash
▪Baking soda
▪Pressure cooker

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COOK THE BEANS WITH ANY OF THE FOLLOWINGS:
♦️Rice, yam, ripe or unripe plantain, sweet potatoes, irish potatoes or corn.

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PREPARATION BEFORE COOKING

▪Grind/blend the fresh tomatoes, fresh pepper, bell pepper and few sliced onions together and set aside (only if you are using them) to cook the beans.

▪Slice the onions into small pieces and set aside.

▪Wash and shred the fish (if only you are using it).

▪Grind the crayfish and set aside.

▪The first thing you should do is to pick/select your beans. Pour the beans in a tray, pick stones and unwanted particles from the it. Ensure all chaff and other debris are removed from the beans before using them to cook.

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PROCEDURE OF COOKING THE BEANS

( PAR-BOILING THE BEANS )

Step 1: Pour the beans in a boiling water and parboil it for about 5 to 10 minutes on high heat.
Tip: Always add the beans to boiling water and cook for 5 to 10 minutes before washing it. This pre- cooking process will help reduce the beans bloating when cooked.

Step 2: Then you drain the water, wash the beans and strain them right before cooking it again.

Step 3: Set your cooking pot on heat, add about two to three cups of water, allow to boil before adding the par-boiled beans.
Note: At this point most people tend to add a little bit of potash to hasten the process, but it is highly not advisable. Just add few sliced onions at this point. This has been shown to serve the same purpose as potash, although with a slightly slow impact.
Tip: Add water to about 2 inches above the beans, sliced onions and allow it to boil, until it is softened.
Tip: You can use pressure cooker to hasten the cooking of the beans.

Step 4: Cook the beans, until it is soft for consumption or at least 95 percent done. Cook the beans for 20 to 30 minutes or until it is very soft for consumption.
Note: The cooking time depends on your heat source.
Note: It takes about 30 or a little less to cook beans, only if you are cooking it the natural way (without potash or pressure cooker).
Tip: You can check the softness of the beans by taking some on your cooking spoon and pressing the beans against spoon using your thumb.

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COOKING THE BEANS

Step 5: Cook your beans, until it is soft/tendered. You can add more water from time to time, if necessary.
Tip: Always keep the water at the same level as the beans cooks, so that when the beans is done, you will not have too much water in the porridge.
Tip: Cook the beans on medium heat until it becomes soft, it can take about 30 to 40 minutes depending on your heat.

Step 6: You can now add your sliced onions, blended pepper mixture, and allow to cook.

Step 7: Add in your shreded dry or smoked fish and your prawns or shrimps, stir and allow it to boil for few minutes.

Step 8: Add in your spices such as crayfish, seasoning cubes, and salt to taste.

Step 9: Check for the seasoning and consistency, adjust if needed. If the beans is too thick for your preference, you can add half a cup of water (more or less) to the consistency you want.

Step 10: Finally, add in your Palm oil, stir and allow to boil for about 5 to 10 minutes.
Cook the beans until it is well done and moist.

Step 11: You can garnish the beans with pumpkin leaf or scent leaf before or after you have brought down the beans from heat.
Tip: You can also sprinkle sliced tomatoes and sliced onions on the top of the beans.
Tip: You can also garnish your cooked beans with any of your vegetables of choice.

Step 12: Turn off the heat, and allow it to sit for 5 minutes before serving.

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THINGS TO NOTE

Our September online training program will be starting on Friday and to participate or to get more information concerning the training, you can enter through the following WhatsApp link below:

https://wa.me/2349072388586

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HOW TO SERVE THE BEANS

▪There are many varieties of things to serve along side with your beans.

▪You can served/eat your beans alone or along side with, (fried or boiled yam, plantain or sweet potatoes), rice, indomie, salad, stew, sauce, vegetable stew/efo riro, grilled fish/chicken, or water-soaked garri (dried cassava flakes).

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TIPS FOR COOKING BEANS

Tip 1: Adding sliced tomatoes and vegetables to your beans is a good source of vitamins and also serves for decoration purposes.

Tip 2: Beans can take a really long time to cook, so cooking your beans with pressure cooker, reduces the cooking time considerably.

Tip 3: Always inspect individual bean seeds to check for insect infestation when selecting. Insect infested beans will not give a suitable result when used in cooking.

Tip 4: Please, don’t add salt in your beans until the beans is tendered or else it will harden prematurely, before it is fully cooked and also take a long time to become soft.

Tip 5: Soaking your Beans before cooking it, might be a good idea, because according to studies, it helps reduce the gas-producing properties of the Beans and it shortens the cooking time for a little bit. However, if you don’t have any problems with the gas-producing properties, you can simply cook it directly without soaking it.

Tip 6: To get the best out of your beans, it is best to cook it with any of the followings:
Yam, ripe/unripe plantain, sweet potatoes or baby corn. Whenever you are cooking your beans with any of the above food stuffs, always add it when the beans is almost soften.

Tip 7: Potash can be used to soften your beans very quick, but it is not good for our health.