Fast and easy

“red red” recipe from Ghana

March 11, 2013 By Freedes

 

When I asked my mother about what “red red” was, she explained that it is in actual fact, any stew made with palm oil. It has become accepted that this traditional black eyed pea stew or bean stew is widely known as red red. It is traditionally made with black eyed peas, however I remember mother making this with red beans, she says they taste better than the black eyed peas. Seeing as I am a busy Londoner with no time to soak beans, and knowing that I seldom stick to tradition when it comes to cooking, I have made an extremely easy version of this dish using a combination of canned black eyed peas and adzuki beans.

Recipe

3 tbsp palm oil (must, otherwise it’s not “Red Red”)
1 onion
1 inch ginger
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp tomato puree
3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 vegetable, fish or prawn stock cube
1 can adzuki beans
1 can black eye peas (no time for soaking dried beans)
1 scotch bonnet pepper, left whole

Method

1. Heat up the palm oil and fry the onions until golden.
2. Add the garlic, ginger and tomato puree and fry for a minute
3. Add the chopped tomatoes followed by the stock cube and allow to fry and reduce for 10 minutes
4. Add the beans, including bean juice in can. Add the whole scotch bonnet to release flavour without too much heat and bring to a simmer.

Traditionally enjoyed with fried plantain and a sprinkling of gari.

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About Freedes

Hi! My name is Freedes*1, the author of My Burnt Orange*2. I am a wife, a mother, and a professional electrical engineer who loves to cook dishes from across Africa and beyond. You can probably tell I have a very busy life, but I ALWAYS make time to cook because I absolutely love it and have a healthy appetite for fresh, simple and sizzling food. Born and raised in Botswana to Ghanaian parents, and now married to a Zimbabwean, I have what I like to call a pan African palate. I have lived in the most amazing cities, namely Melbourne and now London. It is in these cities that I gained my cosmopolitan flair. I have travelled the world in search of culinary inspiration and have found one of the best ways to immerse myself into a culture is through food. I have taken the opportunity to learn about local foods in my travels; having had a wonderful experience learning about Thai Culinary Arts from the head chef at a hotel in Thailand and then Portuguese cuisine at a country cooking school in The Algarve. It is my hope that in sharing my recipes, I will challenge the misconception that African food is unhealthy, and even throw in some great Afro vegetarian ideas.

Since starting this blog in 2011, I have written recipes for Africa on The Blog through which some of my recipes have been picked up and published in the Guardian for theGuardian Africa Network. I have also been featured at The African Pot Nutrition and in Lohi’s Creations and am greatly humbled by these mentions. I am now working on publishing my first Afro Cosmopolitan Diet book in 2013, so please, watch this space.

*1 Freedes is my blogging name, but it works because my friends call me Freedes too. Mama calls me Freda.

*2 My Burnt Orange is the home of the Afro Cosmopolitan Diet. I am not a dietitian. Views are my own and based on personal experiences I am happy to share if it helps. If you need access to dietitians, keep posted while I populate a list for you.*