Recettes

Groundnut (Peanut) Milk

Groundnut milk is what you get when raw peanuts are soaked, blended with water and strained, a plant milk made from one of West Africa's most important crops, using a method that predates the shelves of alternative milks now sold everywhere. The groundnut itself is not originally African. It came from South America and arrived through Portuguese trade, but it settled into West African farming and cooking so completely that it is now difficult to think of the region's food without it. Groundnut stew, kuli kuli, suya's spice base, roasted nuts sold by the cup at every junction, the crop runs right through the cuisine, and milk is one more thing done with it. It is drunk for straightforward reasons. It contains no dairy, which matters in a region where lactose intolerance is common in adults, and it is made from something cheap and locally grown rather than imported. Flavourings are a matter of household preference: vanilla, a little sugar, sometimes cinnamon or dates. The one thing it demands is that you make what you will drink. Fresh groundnut milk has nothing preserving it and separates within a day or two, so it is made in small quantities rather than stored, which is why it tends to be a morning thing, made and finished. It should be shaken before pouring; separation is normal, not spoilage.

★★★★★Les mieux notées

EasyNigeria

Recette de Amara · Africook

Corn Dough Porridge

Corn dough porridge is a Ghanaian breakfast, particularly in the south, made from fermented corn dough thinned with water and cooked with grains of selim until thick. It is closely related to koko and to ogi across the border in Nigeria, all built on the same fermented maize. Fermentation is what gives it its character. Corn is soaked, ground and left to sour for several days, which produces a distinctly tangy flavour and makes the grain easier to digest. Fermented corn dough is sold ready made at Ghanaian and Nigerian markets and grocers, in blocks or bags, and making it from scratch takes days rather than minutes. Grains of selim, also called negro pepper or hwentia, is the spice that makes this Ghanaian rather than generic. It is a long dark pod with a smoky, slightly bitter, aromatic flavour, crushed into the water before the corn goes in. The other technique that matters is straining: the dough is slaked with water and passed through a strainer before it meets the heat, which is the only reliable way to avoid lumps. It is served hot with sugar, and often with milk, roasted nuts or coconut flakes.

30 minEasyGhana

Recette de Amanda Dadson · Africook

Beetroot Pancakes

Beetroot pancakes are ordinary pancakes with cooked beetroot blended into the batter, which turns them deep pink and adds an earthy sweetness. The beetroot does two things. It colours the batter dramatically, which is most of the appeal and the main reason the recipe exists for children. And it contributes moisture and a mild natural sweetness, so the pancakes need less sugar than a plain batter would. They are made in the ordinary way, blended, rested briefly, cooked on a moderately hot pan, and the technique holds no surprises. Cooking them slightly slower than plain pancakes helps, because the extra moisture from the beetroot means the middle needs a little longer while the outside is already colouring. Served with fresh fruit or berries on top, which is the usual suggestion, they make a breakfast that looks considerably more elaborate than it is. **Filed as Worldwide**, the source describes it as a Continental recipe, and it makes no African claim. The page is kept and reclassified rather than removed.

1 hrEasySouth Africa

Recette de FoodChef · Africook

Grilled Vegetable and Barley Salad

Pearl barley cooked and cooled, tossed with grilled courgette, aubergine and peppers in a cumin and lemon dressing, with feta, herbs and pistachios. No country is claimed. **It is finished with pistachios, which the title gives no indication of.** Barley is the interesting part and the source makes a genuine point about it. In Egypt barley is eaten as a breakfast or dessert porridge rather than in salads, and it is one of the oldest cultivated grains in the region, domesticated in the Fertile Crescent and grown around the Nile for thousands of years. Turning it into a grain salad with grilled vegetables and feta is a modern Mediterranean move rather than an inherited one, which is worth being clear about. The technique that matters is cooling the barley completely before dressing it. Warm barley absorbs dressing greedily and unevenly, and it wilts the herbs. Cooled, it takes the dressing without soaking it all up in the first two minutes. Soaking the barley for an hour before cooking shortens the cooking time considerably and helps it cook evenly. Grilling the vegetables rather than roasting them is deliberate: the char is a flavour in its own right and it is the main thing standing up to the barley's earthiness. Its health section has not been carried across.

2 hr 10 minEasyEgypt

Recette de Nympha · Africook