Gambian Classic: Churra gerte

Churra gerte is a traditional Gambian porridge made with boiled peanuts and rice. Think of it as a thicker oatmeal with a rich, slightly nutty taste. The base of the dish is a ground mixture of rice and the peanuts. Because the variety of peanuts found in the United States is often different from those commonly found in Gambia, my family would usually bring the pre-ground churra gerte mixture back home after visiting. Not sure how this recipe will taste with the peanut varieties found in the US, but it is worth a try! If you can find West African groundnuts, you'll be able to replicate the authentic taste. Churra gerte is a simple dish, but immensely satisfying. 

The Gambia, the smallest nation in mainland Africa, is a resource-poor country, so peanuts are one of the main crops grown throughout the region. Gerte is the Wolof word for peanut (also called groundnut). Peanuts are ubiquitous in Gambian (as well as Senegalese) food. Domoda, a delicious peanut-based stew often served with chicken and a mix of vegetables, is The Gambia's national dish. In Senegal, the dish is called maffe. On the streets of Banjul, you'll also find grilled peanuts and peanut butter biscuits. 

Peanuts were first introduced to Senegambia (the region that comprises The Gambia and Senegal) by the Portuguese in the 16th century.

Churra gerte (peanut-rice porridge)

1 cup raw peanuts (shelled with skin attached)
1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
3.5 cups water
Sugar to taste
Condensed milk to taste
Optional: add some seeds and/or dried fruit. I added some raisins and sunflower seeds, but I've thrown in some dried mango and papaya in the past.

1. With a mortar and pestle, pound the peanut and rice mixture until it is a fine consistency. If you have a food processor, you can use it instead to grind the mixture. 
2. Bring water to the boil. Stir in 1 cup of the peanut-rice mixture, then reduce heat to a simmer. If you have any remaining mixture, put it in a covered container and freeze it because churra gerte tends to mold easily. 
3. Stir continuously for 20 minutes until the churra gerte becomes thick. Large steam bubbles should periodically rise from the bottom of the pot and pop.
4. Remove from heat. Serve warm with sugar and condensed milk and enjoy!

Mango Date Bread

Mango date bread

You can probably tell that I’m still on a mango binge. I made this mango-date bread last week for my colleagues at the office and everyone loved it! It’s very moist and dense.  You can serve it as a dessert or have it in the morning with some tea. I think it goes particularly well with a pot of rooibos, a wonderful red tea from South Africa. If you're looking for a great rooibos, check out YSWARA's lovely Makeda of Sheba tea. I just interviewed YSWARA's founder, Swaady Martin-Leke, for Ayiba. YSWARA is currently the leading producer of premium African tea. I've admired Swaady and her approach to business for some time. In the words of Strive Masiyiwa, she's a true "African Lioness." 

In the past, when using dates in baking, I often like to add coconut because I think the flavors complement each other well. If you choose to add coconut to this recipe, about ¾ to 1 cup of shredded coconut should do the trick. 

A tip regarding baking with dates from The Kitchn: For years, I baked with Medjool dates, but they are expensive and difficult to cut uniformly. After reading about different varieties of dates, I've switched to deglet noor dates for baking. They're comparatively inexpensive and easy to chop. Most varieties will work well (with the exception, in my opinion, of thoory dates. I have yet to try halawi dates but they are on my list!) Be careful not to have a heavy hand with dates because they have a high caloric content — definitely something to save for decadent occasions. Not an everyday snack!

Mango Date Bread

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon baking powder 
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar 
½ cup butter (generally 1 stick butter) 
2 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ½ cups mangoes, chopped. Keep 2 slices to garnish the top of the bread.
1 cup chopped dates 
Optional: 1 cup shredded coconut 

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  
2. Grease a 9x x 5 inch loaf pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess.  
3. Beat together the butter and the sugar until thick and creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and salt.  
5. Fold the dry ingredients and the mango into the wet batter, alternating between the dry ingredients and the mango to make the batter easier to mix.
6. Stir in ¾ of the chopped dates until evenly distributed. 
7. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
8. Top the batter with two slices of mango and a few remaining dates.
9. Bake the bread for 1 1/2 hours, or until it is golden brown and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  If the bread looks as if it’s getting too brown as it bakes, cover loosely with a foil tent.  
10. When the bread is finished, transfer it onto a rack for 5 minutes to let it cool. Run a knife alongside the inside of the pan to make it easier to separate. Allow the bread to reach room temperature before inverting and transferring to a plate to serve. 

Mango Slaw

I've never been a big fan of traditional cole slaw, so I like to play around with the basic premise (finely-shredded raw cabbage and a vinaigrette) to incorporate more unusual flavors. In the past, I've made a stone fruit slaw with apricot and plum that was absolutely delicious. So I figured, why not mango slaw? 

It's mango season in Ghana and the fruit is omnipresent on Accra's city streets. As a result, I've been thinking a lot about how to integrate mango into my daily diet. When I incorporate mango into recipes rather than just eating the plain fruit raw, I often use it as a dessert. In my quest to find a way to incorporate it into a lunchtime dish, I had the idea to make it into a mango "slaw."

Mango Slaw
2 mangoes, peeled, pitted and cut into short, thin strips 
1 small head of cabbage, halved and sliced very thinly
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
Juice from 2 limes (about 6 tablespoons)
1/4 cups apple cider vinegar 
2 olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 serrano chile, seeded and minced
1/4 cup toasted cashews, chopped

Combine all ingredients. Toss with with the vinaigrette if eating immediately or put it aside to add to the mango slaw later to avoid excessive sogginess. If you're looking to add some pretty color, toss into some julienned bell peppers.

Guinea Fowl and Quail Egg Shakshuka with Coconut Rice

Anyone who has been over to my house in the last year knows that I've recently become obsessed with shakshuka, a popular egg-based dish in Israel and North Africa. Like the great debate over jollof rice in West Africa, there is a large ongoing debate regarding the origins of shakshuka. Some believe it originated in Morroco, where it was first known as Chakchouka, a Berber word meaning "all mixed up." Others say it appeared in Turkey in the heyday of the Ottoman Empire, where it was often accompanied by spicy sausage. In Israel, at least we can trace the beginning of shakshuka's popularity to the Tunisian and Maghrebi Jew  immigration wave during the 1950s. Still others believe shakshuka comes from Yemen, where it is served with zhoug, a hot green paste.

With all of these different versions and tales of the origin of shakshuka, it is hard to call any recipe truly "authentic." However, the basic elements of any good shakshuka remain poached eggs in a sauce of tomatoes, chili peppers, and onions. 

For my own personal twist, I like to add some paprika, cumin, and curry powder. And, if my guests can handle the heat, a few chilies. I was a little heavy-headed with the chillies this time around, so I added a homemade avocado paste to help reduce the heat (a quick fix if you think you've been a bit overzealous). For the avocado paste, simply cut, peel and mash an avocado. I also seasoned my paste with a bit of lemon juice and kosher salt. 

Some people like to sop up their shakshuka with bread, but I prefer to eat it with rice. Since I'm in Ghana and attempting to add a little tropical flavor to my kitchen adventures, I made coconut rice and garnished it with a few cashews. 

I picked up some guinea fowl eggs while I was in northern Togo, so I substituted those for chicken eggs. I also added some quail eggs that I bought at the Goethe Institute First Saturday Market in Cantonments, Accra. In the US, you may be able to find these types of speciality eggs at Whole Foods, which also happens to have ostrich eggs if you're feeling particularly adventurous. 

Shakshuka
6-8 quail or guinea fowl eggs (If unavailable, substitute 4 - 6 chicken eggs)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced    
1 jalapeno or other chili, sliced    
2 garlic cloves, minced    
3 medium tomatoes, diced    
1 teaspoon curry powder    
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon turmeric
Salt to taste    
1 cup water

1. Heat the vegetable oil on medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for a couple of minutes before adding the chili and garlic. Keep sautéing for a couple of minutes until the mixture is soft. This shouldn't take too long. 
2. Stir the tomatoes into the onion mix and cook until the tomato becomes soft. 
3. Add the spices and salt. Cook until the mixture is fragrant. 
4. Add water. Reduce the heat after the water begins bubbling.
5. Crack the eggs into the curry sauce and cook until the eggs are done. If you like your poached eggs runny, it should only take a couple of minutes. If you like the yolks to be firm, cover the pan with a lid and cook for a few minutes. If you are using guinea fowl eggs, note that they will be much harder to crack than chicken eggs. 

My coconut rice is fairly simple -- and most importantly quick if you don't have that much time. 

Coconut Rice
2 cups Thai jasmine rice
1 cup canned coconut milk
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Rinse and drain the rice.
2. Add the rice, coconut milk and salt to a saucepan. 
3. Place the pot over high hit and bring the liquid to a boil. 
4. Stir then reduce the heat and cover the bot with a lid and continue cooking for 15 - 20 minutes. 
5. Fluff with a fork, then cover and let sit for 5 more minutes.

Banku and Okro Soup, Ghana-Style

Growing up, I was an okra soup fanatic. Whenever my mother made it, I could be continually counted on to eat to excess and then promptly fall into a food coma. I've cut back as I've grown older because okra soup made with palm oil isn't the healthiest of dishes. Several chefs have attempted to adapt the recipe with vegetable oil to make it slightly healthier and reduce the cholesterol impact of the palm oil; however, I believe that the palm oil is essential to rich, deep flavor of the dish. I'm a okra soup purist, if you will. As such, these days, I only eat it sparingly, but relish those rare occasions. If you do choose to adapt the recipe with vegetable oil, I suggest using poultry instead of beef or smoked meat as the flavor is slightly better. 

I learned how to make this recipe from my friend Julie from Ghana. We added a few crabs that you can see in the pictures, but I've omitted them from the recipe below. 

Okra soup is a fascinating dish because of its many permutations across West Africa and its reinvention in the Americas as gumbo. Creole gumbo usually features a roux (a thickening agent made with a fat such as butter, mixed with flour) and is typically served over hot rice.  

This recipe uses garden eggs, which are also called "African eggplants." When I first arrived in Accra, I was very confused as to what exactly the pale yellow "garden eggs" were. I had never seen them before when visiting Gambia or Kenya. After some inquiries, I learned that they are simply another variety of eggplant. In the States, if you're lucky, you may be able to find them at speciality African (and sometimes Asian) grocery stores. They're slightly more bitter than the aubergine (dark purple) eggplants I am used to. 

Okra Soup
1 medium-sized salmon
1 lb smoked turkey (Note: traditionally most people tend to use beef)
1 pound Okro (Note: Ghanaians call okra "okro")
2 cloves garlic
3 medium tomatoes
1 large onion
1 tsp. grated ginger
2 chili peppers (scotch bonnets or other red chilis are best), ground or finely chopped
3 garden eggs (Substitute aubergines if unavailable)
1/2 cup mushrooms
1/2 cup palm oil
2 cubes of Bouillon cubes
Salt to taste

1. Chop half of the pound of okra, then grate the other half. The smaller you cut the okra, the better the draw will be.

2. Cut the stalks off the garden eggs and cut them in half.

3. Soak the garden eggs and the okra for 10 minutes before transferring them to a pot to boil until the garden eggs turn translucent. Remove from flame.

4. In a separate pot, pour 1/2 cup of palm oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion, ginger, bouillion cubes, ground chili pepper and garlic. (Optional: add some ground ginger). As the mixture softens, add tomato and mushrooms, and continue to let it simmer over the fire.

5. Allow the pot with the palm oil mixture to continue cooking for 2 to 3 minutes before adding the smoked turkey and fish. Once the turkey and fish are sufficiently cooked, add the okra mixture.

6. Add the okra into the mixture by turning it from the bottom of the pot to the top. Allow the mixture to cook for another 10 minutes. The okra is added last in order to avoid over-cooking it.

7. Serve when ready alongside banku (for Ghanaians) or rice (my personal preference).

Pouring the boiled okra and garden egg mixture into the pot with the palm oil

Because I was aiming for the full Ghana experience, I also made the okra soup with banku, one of Ghana's staple foods. I'm fascinated by the vast array of starchy side dishes across Africa. In much of West Africa, fufu is omnipresent. In Kenya and parts of eastern and central Africa, the starchy side is ugali, a maize-based side similar to polenta. In Zambia and parts of southern Africa, there is nshima. In Benin and Togo, there is the omnipresent pate (pronounced "pat.")  In Ghana, there is the one and only banku. Aside from their starchy consistency, all these foods share the common element of near tastelessness, thereby making them a perfect base to sop up the spicy and earthy flavors of rich stews like okra soup. 
 

Freshly made banku, shapely by yours truly. Be careful not to eat too much or you will quickly find yourself fast asleep.

Banku
2 cups water
1 pound cassava dough
2 pounds corn dough
Salt to taste

1. Mix the 1 cup of water and cassava dough then pour the mixture through a sieve to ensure that all the unmilled pieces of cassava and any other residue are eliminated.

2. Add the corn dough to the cassava dough.

3. Add some salt and mix thoroughly until the mixture thins and becomes smooth.

4. Put the pot over medium fire and continue to mix. The banku will become more difficult to stir, but continue to mix in order to ensure it does not become lumpy. Add about one cup of water and cover the pot for 5 minutes to allow the water to evaporate and cook the banku further. During this time, stir the banku intermittently.

5. When the banku is ready, shape it into a small ball using a spoon. Alternatively, if you won't eat all of the banku at once, spoon out portions into small plastic bags and roll up the ends.

The finished product: banku and okro soup.