COOKED BEANS WITH PEPPER SAUCE/EWA AGOYIN

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EWA AGOYIN
Ewa agoyin (Nigerian cooked beans with pepper sauce) is a treat for any bean lover. The dish is made up of mashed cooked beans (Ewa agoyin) with a delicious topping of a hot sauce (Agoyin pepper). It is a deliciously tasty as well as a nutritious dish.Get your food bowl ready!

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INGREDIENTS: 
  • 2-3 cups black eyed peas/beans (or brown beans/local beans)

FOR THE SAUCE
  • 1¼ cup Palm oil
  • ​1 large red onion (sliced)
  • 8 dried Bell pepper 
  • 2-3 tbs dried pepper seeds (or pepper flakes)
  • ​1 tbs Ground pepper 
  • 3 Cameroon pepper
  • 1 cm cube ginger (minced)
  • Salt (for taste) (reduce/omit if using the bouillon cubes)
  • 1tbs broken beans (Optional) (If you would like crunchiness in the sauce)

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS FOR THE SAUCE 
  • 3-4 tbs dried whole crayfish or smoked fish
  • 1 bouillon cube (Maggi cube)

METHOD

PREPARATION

PREPARATION:
  • Slice the onions and keep aside.
  • Mince the ginger cube.
  • Soak the dried peppers in water (for over 6 hours or more) until they rehydrate and plump up again.
  • When the peppers are rehydrated, add the pepper seeds, the mince ginger, and the maggy cube and crayfish (if using) with ¼ cup water and blend coarsely.
  • Mix with the broken beans (if using). Keep aside until ready to use.

COOKING THE SAUCE:
  • First and foremost, you need to bleach the palm oil. Add the palm oil in the cooking pot. Leave it under high heat (for about 10 minutes) until it reaches its smoking point) and you can see a change of colour (The oil will change color from red(ish) to brown(ish)).
  • Lower the heat and add the chopped onions (be careful as oil will be extremely hot!). Fry the onions until they totally caramelize changing colour to brown (do not let them burn).
  • Then add the blended peppers and mix. 
  • Check seasoning and add salt if needed.
  • Now let the mixture cook together under low heat for about 30- 40 minutes (stir occasionally to prevent it burning).​
  • Remove from the heat, the sauce is ready to be served

COOKING THE BEANS:
  • Wash and remove any dirt from the bean.
  • Add to a pan with water and boil until it is very soft - then drain any excess water.
  • Season with salt and then mash.
  • Your beans are ready! Serve the bean on a plate and top up with the sauce. Enjoy!​

More information & tips

1) To get the authentic Flavour and aroma of the Ewa agoyin sauce, you need to use the right dried peppers and in the right form (dried ones please!).
2) Palm oil is not the healthiest but using enough palm oil is essential in this recipe. Bleaching it is also required in order to get the right aroma of the sauce.
3) The beans are not usually soaked. Soaking loosens the skin off the beans which causes it to spit before cooking- which will give your mashed beans a slightly different texture. However, make sure your beans are extremely soft before mashing.
4) If you would like your sauce to have a gritty texture, add some broken beans or if you do not have this, then add 1-2 tbs of the mashed beans into the sauce and mix. 

Also see
CATEGORIES
BEANS & PULSES
​SNACKS & BITES
​​​WEST AFRICA CUISINE