Ghanian Red -Red Stew

Before you start wondering Ghana is a country in the African Continent.Plantains are a much celebrated ingredient in the African continent and are used in many of their dishes.This dish is a stew made with black eyed peas cooked in a spicy tomato sauce served with plantains and Injera.This is similar to Indian lobia curry with changes in a few ingredients.I will do a recipe on Injera at a later point.

Preparation time:30 minutes

Serves:4

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon red palm oil( I used sesame oil)
1 medium onion, diced
3 habenero peppers( I didnt have the peppers so I used 1 teaspoon of habanero sauce)
1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
3 ripe tomatoes
1 cup dry black eyed peas soaked overnight in water

pinch turmeric(this is not part of the recipe but I added it )

2 tablespoon coconut milk(This is not part of the recipe but I added it for flavor)

salt as per taste

pinch Ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon aamchur powder(this is not part of the recipe but I added it for flavor)

Procedure:

1.Place the black eyed peas in a pressure cooker ,add enough water to soak them and let cook for two whistles and turn off the flame. Drain and keep the water.

2.Heat oil in a pan and add the diced onion and saute until translucent.Add salt and turmeric and mix.

3.Puree the tomatoes with the habanero peppers and keep aside.

4.Add the ginger garlic paste to the onions and saute for 1 minute on a medium heat.

5.Add  the pureed tomato paste, black pepper powder,aamchur powder and let it simmer.

6.Add the coconut milk, water from the black eyed peas and let it simmer until it forms a slightly thick sauce.

7.Now add the black eyed peas and let it simmer for 4-5 minutes.

Tips:

This is usually served with fried plantains and Injera.See recipe for baked plantains here.
You can eat it with plantains as is without injera as well.Scoop the stew onto the plantain and eat.

If you do not have habanero peppers you can use green chili that gives more of an indian flavor. If using habanero sauce find one without vinegar,if you have one with vinegar,you can add a pinch of baking soda to  it to neutralize the vinegar.