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African Black Beans Stew – tasty and comforting bean stew flavored with garlic, ginger, onions, celery, leeks and intensified with crayfish for ultimate comfort food. Beans are all-time favorite comfort food in my family. It doesn’t matter how it is prepared; fried with onions and maggi cubes, or slowly cooked with some dry fish. It never fails to hit the spot.

Beans are a staple food all throughout Africa because they are versatile, packed with protein, fiber, and full of flavor. It’s very common to find street vendors selling beans at the exit of most schools in Cameroon in the morning with puff-puff. You can also find them outside of the food markets in many cities and at most main plazas every day of the week. It is considered a breakfast or main meal depending on how it is prepared.

This is how puff puff is fried

Puff puff / Beignets de Farine in french

checkout puff puff recipe

PUFF-PUFF AND BEANS/BEIGNETS HARICOTS

PUFF PUFF AND BLACK BEANS/cameroon Street food

Beans are cooked to their ideal consistency—a bit firm on the outside, meaty on the inside. They are sautéed in palm oil or canola oil with onions, garlic , ginger, celery, leeks, crayfish, maggi cubes and chilli which is optional

You can enjoy this meal with a starchy food like bread, yams, plantains (fried or boil) or white rice 👌. One of my favourite meals of all times .

Ingredients

2 cans of black beans . If using packet version, soak for 2 hours and boil

2 cloves garlic

1/4 ginger

1/2 celery

1/2 leek

1 onion. Cut into two. One for blending and the other for frying.

1 tbsp all purpose seasoning

Palm oil

Crayfish. Can add some smoked fish if you prefer

Chilli ( hot scotch bonnet pepper) optional

Method of preparation

  • Rinse dry black beans and pick through and discard any foreign object.( I did not have to do this because I used the beans from the tin. If using packet beans, add black beans to a large pot covering with 3-4 inches of cold water.
  • If not in a hurry, Cover and let sit overnight for 6 to 8 hours
  • Drain the soaked beans, rinse, and place the beans in a pressure cooker. Follow instructions for cooking beans in your pressure cooker. It takes roughly between 8 to 12 minutes to cook. If not using a pressure cook, cook the beans for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours until tender.
  • If using from the tin as I did, just rinse and set aside. The beans already come nice and soft.
  • Rinse, drain and set aside.
  • if using canned beans , just rinse
  • Heat the palm oil in large saucepan over medium heat until hot. Sauté the onions in the oil for 3-4 minutes, stirring often.
  • Add the blended mixture from the ingredients list above , the all purpose seasoning and allow to cook for 5 to 10 minutes.
  • Through in Cray fish and let it simmer for another 5 minutes, add the beans, water/ stock if needed to prevent burns. Continue to cook the sauce, stirring occasionally
  • Adjust for seasonings and serve.

Enjoy 😋

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