Superkanja
We eat it every day. No matter what you have for lunch – jollof rice, yassa, ceebu jen with basmati – there’s rice. It’s more expensive than vegetables.
We often use aubergine in ceebu jen, yassa and superkanja. We char it over the fire outside, or boil it in brothbased dishes. Don’t cook it too long, though – you want it still tender in the middle.
This is a popular West African brand of seasoning powders. There are many different types, made with salt, garlic, spices or dried shrimp.
Touba’s not far from the sea, so we can get fresh fish daily, such as catfish or sea bass. We fry it or barbecue whole pieces. Seafood that’s expensive in Britain, like crab, is cheap in Africa.
Mafé is a stew or sauce that’s usually served with chicken and made using peanut butter. It’s eaten across West Africa. I could eat plates of the sauce alone!
SERVES 4-6 PREP 30 mins COOK 1 hr 30 mins EASY
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large onions, chopped
20g tomato purée
900g braising beef, chopped 200g smoked white fish (we used smoked mackerel, but any smoked white fish will work)
1 red pepper, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed large pinch of chilli flakes
2 bay leaves
900g okra, roughly chopped 250g sustainably sourced palm oil ¼ tsp baking powder boiled rice, to serve
1 Heat the oil in a large pan over a low heat, and fry the onions until softened. Add the tomato purée and cook for 5-7 mins, then pour in 21/2 litres water. Tip in the beef and fish. Bring to the boil and cook for 15 mins. Transfer the fish to a plate using a slotted spoon. Set aside.
2 Stir in the pepper, garlic, chilli, bay and okra. Season with salt.
3 Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 25 mins. Add the palm oil and baking powder. Simmer for another 25-30 mins, stirring occasionally. Return the fish to the pan and continue to simmer for 15 mins. Serve with rice.
GOOD TO KNOW calcium • folate • fibre • vit c • iron • 2 of 5-a-day
PER SERVING (6) 834 kcals • fat 66g • saturates 27g • carbs 12g • sugars 10g • fibre 11g • protein 42g • salt 0.9g