How To Prepare Ewa Agoyin
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March 21, 2017How To Prepare Ewa Agoyin
Ewa Agoyin is a popular street food in Nigeria that a lot of people don’t know how to prepare at home. It could be because Ewa agoyin is not a traditional Nigerian dish. Also, because street hawker sell this delicacy daily, there is no additional incentive to learn how to prepare it.
But if you would like to learn how to make this at home, here is an opportunity to try it out. The ingredients can be easily found in any street market or store in Nigeria.
A lot of people prefer Ewa agoyin to the regular beans porridge or beans and stew combo because it has a distinct taste you won’t get anywhere else. It is also filling without the regular heartburn that comes with eating beans porridge.
The beans are cooked until very soft and mashed with either a potato masher, a wooden spoon, or an electric beater.
If you want to cut down on cooking time, you can use a pressure cooker to cook the beans.
If you have never tried Ewa agoyin, here’s a little warning, the dish requires a lot of oil, so if you are on a diet, you might want to approach it with caution. Otherwise, the extra calories from the meal are worth the deliciousness.
The trick to achieving the authentic taste of Ewa agoyin is in using the right peppers, enough palm oil, and onions. It is also important to bleach your palm oil as appropriate. If you have this down pat, nothing will ruin your meal.
To get the extra crunchiness and grittiness in Ewa agoyin, your onions need to burn a little while frying. The pepper seeds will also add to the gritty texture.
A very important note: Resist the urge to add tomatoes to your agoyin sauce or you’ll ruin it.
2 hours 30 minutes
222 calories
Serve Ewa agoyin with boiled yam, fried plantain, or soft bread
Ingredients
- Red or white beans (3 cups)
- Salt to taste
- Water (6-8 cups)
- Dried chilli (3/4 cup)
- Dried bell pepper (2-3)
- Dried pepper seeds (3 tbsp heaped)
For the beans:
For the sauce:
- Thinly sliced onion (1 large)
- Minced ginger (1 tbsp)
- Dry blended crayfish (1/4 cup)
- Seasoning cubes (2)
- Salt to taste
- Palm oil (1 cup)
Preparation
Get all your ingredients ready
Step 1
To Prepare the Beans:
Wash the beans under running water.
Add 6 cups of water to a pot, set on high heat and bring to a boil.
Add the beans and reduce the heat to a minimum.
Leave on low heat for 2 hours 30 minutes or until the beans is very soft.
Add salt to taste. Mash up the beans with a wooden spoon or beater.
Step 2
To Prepare the Sauce:
Set the dried peppers in a bowl, pour over some boiling water and leave covered for 2-6 hours until the peppers are softened. You can even soak overnight.
In a blender, combine the bell pepper and soaked peppers with a bit of water. Puree to a coarse texture.
Step 3
Set a medium-sized pot on medium heat, add the palm oil and bleach for 10-12 minutes.
Turn the heat down low and add in the chopped onion, stir at interval until the onion is caramelised (the color should be black). This takes about 20 – 30 minutes.
Step 4
Add the ginger, blended pepper, crayfish, salt, and seasoning cubes. Stir.
Still on low heat, let it fry for at least 40 minutes, occasionally stir so it doesn’t burn.
You should start to perceive the Agoyin Sauce aroma as soon as the blended pepper is added. The sauce should be very dark but not burnt after it has fried completely.
The sauce is ready to serve.
Sargin Beatrice
Holistic Nutritionist
Nigerian
Good advice
Ewa Agoyin tends to dry out the colder it gets once mashed, so adjust the water level as required to keep it moist.
