| Plain Soup |
|
Method
Peel and wash onions and put it into a saucepan. Wash tomatoes, pepper and garden eggs, add to the onions and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, cook till soft.
Cut the meat into small pieces, wash and season with salt, garlic and chopped shallots. Add a little water, put it on the fire and allow to boil for about 10 minutes.
Grind the cooked vegetables (tomatoes, pepper and onions) and add to the beef on the fire. Add remaining the water.
Allow soup to simmer until meat is tender. Remove seeds and skin from the gardens eggs and serve separately
Serve hot with fufu. |
Ingredients
1lb beef, smoked fish or chicken
6 shallots, chopped
3 tomatoes
4 garden eggs
4pts cold water
1 teaspn. salt
1 teaspn. red pepper
1 clove garlic
2 medium sized onions |
| Aqushi Soup |
|
Method
Grind agushi with onions into a smooth paste.
Add a little stock to ground pepper, some of the onions, fish or meat and salt. Place the cooking pot on the fire and simmer gently.
Mould agushi paste into small balls and drop into soup.
Add the rest of the stock. Add the chopped bitter leaves and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the ground dried shrimp and allow to simmer for 1 minute.
Serve hot with Eba. |
Ingredients
4oz agushi
8oz smoked fish or cooked meat
10 dried shrimp, ground
2 medium sized tomatoes
¼pt meat stock
½pt palm oil
1 large onion
8 - 10oz bitter leaves, chopped
1 clove garlic, ground
salt and pepper to taste |
| Abenkwan (palm nut soup 1) |
|
Method
Wash the palm nuts, put them into a saucepan, cover with water and boil until they are soft.
Prepare meat and fish, wash and put it into a saucepan, add salt, garlic and chopped shallots. Add a little water, and bring to the boil.
Pound the palm nuts in a mortar until pulpy. Put into a bowl, add warm water and stir with hand and remove the fiber residue by squeezing out the juice.
Strain the palm liquid through a fine strainer into a clean bowl.
Add the palm nut liquid to the meat with tomatoes, onions, garden eggs and pepper. Simmer till all ingredients are soft.
Remove vegetables, grind and return to the soup mixture. Allow to simmer for about 1 hour.
Serve with fufu, banku, kenkey, etc. |
Ingredient
1½lb palm nuts
1lb bone-in beef
8oz smoked fish
3 tomatoes
6 shallots, chopped
2 medium sized onions
2 teaspn. ground pepper
1 clove ground garlic
2 dsrtspn. dried smoked shrimp, ground
salt to taste |
| Abenkwan (palm nut soup 2) |
|
Method
Clean, cut meat into pieces and wash.
Put meat in a saucepan, season with salt, chopped shallots, garlic and a little ginger. Add enough water and boil for 10 minutes.
Add the palm liquid to meat with washed vegetables (tomatoes, onions, garden eggs) and ground pepper. Cook until vegetables are soft.
Remove tomatoes and onions, grind and return to soup. Remove garden eggs, seed and strain, return to soup. Simmer for about 1 hour.
Serve with fufu, banku, kenkey, etc.
|
Ingredient
1 tin Ghanacan palm liquid
1½lb meat
2 medium sized onions
3 tomatoes
4 garden eggs
2 teaspn. ground pepper
1 clove garlic, ground
2 dsrts pn. smoked dried shrimp, ground
salt to taste |
| Nkatenkwan (groundnut soup 1) |
|
Method
Cut meat into pieces, wash and put into a coking pot. Season with salt, chopped shallots and garlic. Add a little water, bring to the boil.
Mix groundnut paste with the rest of the water and strain into the meat. Add washed vegetables (tomatoes, onions and pepper) and cook till soft.
Remove vegetables from soup, grind, and add pepper and tomatoes to the soup.
Prepare and add fish and the onions. Allow to simmer for about 1 hour.
Serve hot with fufu, boiled yam, rice, etc.
|
Ingredient
1 cup groundnut paste
8oz smoked fish
1lb meat
3 medium sized tomatoes
6 chopped shallots
3 garden eggs (optional)
2 medium sized onions
4pts cold water
1 clove garlic, |
| Nkatenkwan (groundnut soup 2) |
|
Method
Put groundnut paste in a cooking pot, add 1 pint of water, and mix until smooth and pouring.
Bring to the boil, stir occasionally until it coats the back of the wooden spoon and oil collects at the top.
Cut meat into pieces, wash and put into a coking pot. Season with salt, chopped shallots and garlic. Add a little water, bring to the boil. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes.
Mix the cooked groundnut paste with the rest of the water and add to the meat.
Add washed vegetables (tomatoes, pepper and onions) and cook until soft. Prepare and add the fish.
Remove the vegetables from soup, grind and return the paste to soup. Allow to simmer for about 1 hour.
Serve hot with boiled yam, rice, fufu, etc. |
Ingredient
1 cup groundnut paste
8oz smoked fish
1lb meat
3 medium sized tomatoes
6 chopped shallots
3 garden eggs (optional)
2 medium sized onions
4pts cold water
1 clove garlic, ground
pepper and salt to taste |
| Fresh Fish Stew |
|
Method
Clean, cut fish into steaks and wash with lime or lemon, rinse in water and season with garlic, ginger and salt.
Heat oil in a saucepan, fry ground onions, pepper and tomatoes for a few minutes. Add ground fry shrimps and fresh tomatoes and allow to simmer until cooked.
Add water, allow to boil for 5 minutes and add the seasoned fresh fish and sliced onions. Simmer gently until fish is cooked.
Serve hot with banku, kenkey, etc. |
Ingredients
1lb fresh fish
4 peppers, ground
1 dsrtspn. tomato puree
2 dsrtspn. dried shrimp, ground
4 medium sized onions, ground or sliced
4 fresh tomatoes, ground
6 kpakpo shito
½pt water
¼pt palm oil or cooking oil
1 clove garlic,ground
ginger, ground
salt to taste |
| Garden Egg Stew |
|
Method
Cut, wash and season meat with garlic, salt and a little ginger. Cook meat until tender.
Was and boil garden eggs till they are soft. Prepare tomatoes and onions.
Heat oil in saucepan, add the sliced onions and fry for 2 minutes. Add the ground pepper, cook for a few minutes then add the ground dried shrimps and ground tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes.
Add the meat and stock, simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove skin and seeds of garden eggs, chop and add to the stew.
Serve with hot boiled yam, plantain, rice, etc.
|
Ingredients
10 garden eggs
3 tomatoes
2 medium sized onions
4 red peppers, ground
6 medium sized dried herrings
8oz meat
1 dsrtspn. dried shrimps, ground
¼pt palm oil
1 clove garlic, ground
salt to taste |
| Kontomire Stew |
|
Method
Cut meat into pieces, wash and season with a bit of salt, garlic and ginger. Place in a cooking pot a put it on the fire, bring to the boil and cook till tender. Grind pepper and tomatoes and slice the onions. Pick, wash and chop the kontomire or spinach leaves.
Heat oil in a saucepan. Fry onions and pepper for 2 minutes, add dried ground shrimps and tomatoes. Cook for another 10 minutes.
Add meat with the stock. Prepare and add fish, stir and allow to simmer for a few minutes. Add the agushi mix with water and kpakpo shito.
Add the chopped leaves when the agushi is cooked and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Serve hot with boiled plantain, yam, rice, coco yam, etc. |
Ingredient
2 bundles of coco yam leaves (kontomire)or spinach
4 medium sized tomatoes
2 large onions
1lb meat or tripe, cooked
8oz smoked fish
8oz agushi
¼pt palm oil
2 dessertspn. dried ground shrimp
1 clove garlic salt, pepper and ginger to taste
kpakpo shito |
Old editions of Webster's Dictionary define "palaver" as "a parley between European explorers and representatives of local populations, especially in Africa" or "In Africa, a parley with the natives; a talk; hence, a public conference and deliberation; a debate".
The word "palaver" comes from the Portuguese language. In the 1400's the Portuguese were the first to sail around Africa from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean (Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488); Portuguese traders were the first Europeans to establish a presence along the sub-Saharan African coasts.
Though they were later largely displaced by the English and French, the word "palaver" became a part of the lingua franca along the Atlantic coast of Africa. What "palaver" has to do with Palaver Sauce (or Palava Sauce)--an African stew made from greens and meat--is not clear. In Ghana, this dish is also called Kontonmire, Kentumere, or Nkontommire, named for the leaf of the cocoyam (taro) plant which is used for the greens. See also: Plasas.
Method
If you are using dried or fresh bitterleaf: Wash it in cold water, rinsing several times, and allow it to soak for at least a few hours, then chop it into pieces.
If you are using spinach leaves: Clean and chop them immediately before cooking the soup. If you are using any other greens (such as kale or collard greens): Clean, chop, and parboil them briefly before cooking the soup. ·
If you are using dried/salted fish: Soak it in water for an hour or two, then cut the fish into pieces and remove any skin or bones. ·
Heat the oil in a large dutch oven or covered pot. Fry the meat until it is partially done, and then add a few cups of broth, stock, or water. Reduce heat. Simmer.
Add the bitterleaf (or greens, or spinach) to the pot. Stir and simmer for several minutes more.
Add the fish to the pot, along with the onion and tomatoes, and any hot chile pepper, salt, and red or black pepper you like. Cover the pot and continue to cook over low heat. ·
When the greens seem tender, add the remaining ingredients. (Egusi or okra help it to thicken. The egusi, pumpkin seeds, or sesame seeds should be crushed or ground before they are added.)
Cook over low heat, stirring often (do not add any more liquid) until it is a thick sauce-like consistency.
Serve with Banku, Kenkey, Fufu, or Rice.
Palaver 'Sauce' is a good example of the English word "sauce" used to describe something that is more like a soup or stew. Platto, bologie, and bitterleaf all appear in various Palaver 'Sauce' recipes-- whether these African greens are one and the same is uncertain. (See also: Ndole Soup.)
Spinach is usually substituted outside of Africa.
Ingredients
one-half cup palm oil or vegetable oil
one to two pounds of stew meat, or chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
beef broth or beef stock (or water)
two to four cups (or more) fresh or dried bitter leaf (or platto), or several cups of spinach or similar greens (kale, collards, or turnip greens are good), or a combination of these
one to two pounds dried, salted, or smoked fish (such as cod or herring) -- or -- a combination of fresh fish and dried, salted, or smoked fish
one or two onions, finely chopped
two to six ripe tomatoes, chopped and mashed (peel removed, if desired; the peel of a ripe tomato is most easily removed if it is first dipped for a minute in boiling water) (or canned tomatoes)
one chilli pepper, grounded (optional)
salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper or red pepper (to taste)
one cup egusi (agusi, agushi, egushi) roasted and ground: or shelled pumpkin seeds or pepitas, or shelled sesame seeds, roasted and ground (optional)
one tablespoon fresh ginger root, ground (or one teaspoon ground ginger) -- or
several okra (optional)
one cup fresh shrimp or prawns, or one-half cup dried shrimp or prawns (optional)
one-half cup cooked ham, chopped (optional)
