Kontomire Stew
Overview
Kontomire stew is a Ghanaian stew of cocoyam leaves cooked in palm oil with tomato, onion, pepper and smoked fish, then thickened with ground melon seed. To prepare kontomire stew (some people call it kontomire soup), you steam the cut leaves and simmer a blended tomato and pepper base in palm oil. Then you let the ground melon seed set in it without stirring, and fold the leaves through at the end. Kontomire is the Akan (Twi) word for cocoyam leaves, and this stew is a very popular way to cook them in Ghanaian homes. The leaves are broad and thick, closer to collard greens than spinach, so they hold their shape through a long cook. It's Akan cooking, and it makes up one half of ampesi, the plate of stew with boiled yam, plantain or cocoyam. The Asante version, abom, is plainer: steamed leaves ground with onion, pepper and tomato and finished with palm oil. This one leans on melon seed for body and a nutty edge. Ghanaians call the seed agushie or akatoa, and palava sauce is where they use it most. The stew also belongs to the West African family of leaf stews called palava sauce, cooked in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone with the greens each country has.
AFN Heritage Note
Kontomire stew belongs to the West African family of leaf stews known in English as palava sauce, documented across Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. Melon seeds, called egusi or agushie, are indigenous to tropical Africa and have been dried, dehulled and ground as a thickener across the region since before contact.
Ingredients
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Soak the melon seeds in water and set aside.
- 2
Wash the kontomire leaves with a generous amount of salt to stop your hands itching when you cut them. Cut the leaves into strips.
- 3
Put the cut kontomire into a saucepan with a little water over high heat. Cover and bring to a boil, turning after about five minutes so everything cooks through. Turn off the heat and set aside.
- 4
Blend two of the onions with the tomatoes, pepper and turkey berries, and set aside.
- 5
Remove the flesh from the smoked salmon, take out the bones and break it into pieces.
- 6
Wash the soaked melon seeds, put them in a blender with about a quarter teaspoon of salt and just enough water, and blend to a paste. Slice the remaining onion.
- 7
Pour the palm oil into a medium saucepan, add half the sliced onion and the momoni if using, and fry until the onion softens.
- 8
Add the blended tomato, onion, turkey berry and pepper mixture. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- 9
Add the salmon, salt and ground shrimp. Cover and simmer for 7 to 10 minutes until the sauce has barely thickened.
- 10
Add the blended melon seeds. Do not stir. Cover, reduce the heat to low and leave for 8 to 10 minutes until the melon seed has set.
- 11
Gently fold in the steamed kontomire. Add the remaining sliced onion and simmer for about five minutes until it softens. Serve with yam, plantain, cocoyam, cassava, sweet potato or rice.
Africook’s Notes
Personal notes from Jennifer Ezeokoli- Wash the leaves with salt before cutting. Raw cocoyam leaves irritate the skin, and the salt wash is the standard Ghanaian precaution rather than a seasoning step.
- Do not stir the melon seed once it goes in. It needs to set undisturbed into soft curds, and stirring turns it into a grainy suspension instead.
- Use powdered or whole egusi, never pumpkin or squash seeds. They are a different plant and behave differently, and the substitution is the most common way this dish goes wrong outside West Africa.
- Onion, tomato, ginger and scotch bonnet are the aromatic base of Ghanaian cooking and none of them is optional here except the scotch bonnet, which is purely a question of how much heat you want.
- Mushrooms are a common addition for a meat free version, giving savoury depth without fish or meat.
Questions cooks ask
What are the ingredients for kontomire stew?
You need kontomire (cocoyam) leaves, melon seeds (agushie or egusi), small tomatoes, onions, turkey berries, pepper, smoked salmon, ground shrimp, palm oil and salt. Momoni, the fermented fish, is optional. AFN's recipe uses 15 leaves, a cup of melon seeds and half a cup of palm oil, and the full list with amounts is in the ingredients above.
What is kontomire stew in English?
In English, kontomire stew is cocoyam leaf stew. Kontomire is the Akan (Twi) word for the leaves of the cocoyam plant, and the stew is also known as palava sauce.
What do you eat kontomire stew with? (ampesi, rice and more)
In Ghana it's eaten with boiled yam or plantain, the pairing called ampesi, and rice and kontomire stew is a popular plate too. AFN's recipe also suggests boiled cocoyam, cassava or sweet potato.
How do you prepare kontomire stew without agushie?
Make abom, the Asante version, which has no melon seed at all. The cocoyam leaves are steamed and ground with onion, pepper and tomato, then finished with palm oil. It's thinner and plainer than the agushie stew, and both are proper kontomire dishes.
Is kontomire stew the same as egusi?
No. Egusi soup is a soup built around ground melon seed, rooted in Yoruba cooking and eaten across West Africa. Kontomire stew is built around cocoyam leaves. It only uses the melon seed, which Ghanaians call agushie, as a thickener that sets into soft curds in the sauce.
What can I use instead of kontomire leaves?
Collard greens are the closest easy-to-find swap, because they're thick enough to survive the cook. Mature spinach works but wilts to very little, so use a lot more and add it later. Kale holds up well too. Avoid baby spinach altogether.
Is kontomire the same as spinach?
No. Kontomire is the leaf of the cocoyam plant, thicker and firmer than spinach and from a different plant family altogether. Spinach can stand in at a push, but the texture and taste of the finished stew will be noticeably different.
What is momoni and do I need it?
Momoni is Ghanaian fermented salted fish, strongly savoury and strong smelling, used in very small amounts as a flavour base. It's optional here and the stew works without it, but it adds a depth that's hard to get any other way. Ghanaian and West African grocers sell it. Go easy, because a little goes a long way.
Reviews
5 reviews
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Kontomire made my throat itch. What went wrong?
It was undercooked. Cocoyam leaves contain crystals that irritate the throat and they break down with heat, so the fix is more cooking rather than less. Boil the leaves properly before they go into the stew, discard that first water, and do not rush the simmer afterwards. Cooking them with something acidic helps too.
that tip about washing the leaves with salt so your hands wont itch saved me o. last time I tried making this my fingers were burning for hours. I added extra ground shrimp at the end because the smoked salmon I bought wasnt very strong. came out nice.
getting fresh kontomire in minneapolis is impossible abeg so I used frozen spinach and kale mix. used egusi from the African store on Lake Street and the smoked salmon flavor really carried the whole dish. my husband ate two plates sha.
40 minutes is lie o, it took me almost an hour just to clean the leaves and debone the smoked salmon properly. stew tasted fine in the end but the turkey berries made it a bit bitter for my kids.