NIGERIAN BEEF STEW

This stew combines a mix of tomatoes, peppers and onions. It is easily prepared and comes in handy because it can be prepared in advance, frozen and used Nigerian for a variety of meals such as plain rice dishes, African soups, boiled yam e.t.c. Once the stew is boiled a variety of cooked meat is usually added such as turkey, beef, chicken, goat meat, cow stomach, just some examples of what can be added to the stew. In this instance I only added beef but be free to add different varieties as you prefer.

Ingredients

• 10 - 15 fresh tomatoes
• 3 onion bulbs
• 10 -15 Fresno chili peppers
• 3 garlic cloves (optional)
• Ginger (optional)
• 500g beef
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 stock cube
• 1tbsp curry
• 1tbsp thyme
• Salt to taste
• Water

How to prepare
-Clean and cut meat into small bite sized prices. Place in a pot add thyme, curry, one stock cube, salt to taste and enough water to just cover meat and cook meat until well done (about 45 minutes). Set aside and reserve beef stock.

-Peel two of three onions and cut into wedges and remove stems from and Fresno peppers (some people prefer to add red bell peppers because they have less heat).

-Place peppers, onions, tomatoes, garlic and ginger in a blender. Add as little water as possible (just enough to help with the blending).

-Blend tomatoes, onions and peppers until completely smooth and free from all lumps.

-Once completely blended, pour tomato purée into a pot and bring to a boil.

-Boil tomato puree until it thickens in consistency, the colour deepens and the excess water added during the blending process dries up.

-Dice remaining onion.

-In a different pot heat up vegetable oil, add onions and fry till onions are translucent.

-Add boiled tomato purée and fry for about 25 - 30 minutes or until tomatoes loose its sour taste (stirring constantly to prevent burning at the bottom).

-Add beef stock and cook for further 10 minutes.

-Add boiled beef, stock cube and salt to taste. Cover and leave to simmer on low heat for 5 more minutes.

-Serve with the main dish and enjoy.

NIGERIAN CURRY SAUCE

Ok so this is something I had been craving for a little while, finally I’m home, find all the ingredient I need available and I decide why not make some Nigerian curry sauce. I decided to accompany this sauce with white rice but it also goes great with spaghetti also. So here it is, white rice and curry sauce. Enjoy!

Ingredients

For the curry sauce

• Potatoes
• Eggs
• Chicken portions
• Frankfurters
• Vegetables (carrot, sweet corn, peas, green beans)
• Red bell pepper
• Green bell pepper
• Habanero pepper (optional)
• Onion
• Curry
• Thyme
• Salt
• Flour
• Salt
• Seasoning cube 

 How to prepare:

-Peel the potatoes  and cut into wedges (I cut mine into four) rinse the potatoes with cold water, place in a pot and add water, the potatoes need to be boiled through this would take about 20-30 mins depending on the size. Strain potatoes.

-Put hard boiled eggs in a bowl filled with iced water to cool down then peel  and keep aside with the potatoes.

    

-Dice up red and green bell peppers and habanero peppers(wear gloves while handling habenaro peppers) and frankfurters.

    

    

-I used a bag of frozen mixed vegetables here but, if using fresh vegetables make sure to clean and peel vegetables first before cutting into small pieces.

-Bring chicken to a boil, add curry, seasoning cubes, thyme, salt and half of the chopped onions and boil chicken over a low heat till it is completely ready(40-50 mins).

-Take the chicken off the fire and strain the chicken stock retain stock.

- Put a pot on the fire on a low heat and add a little oil, habanero pepper and the other half of the chopped onions, fry till onions are translucent then add half of the reserved stock and bring to a simmer.

-Sieve the plain flour, measure three tablespoons and mix flour with water, till there is a smooth consistency, so there would be no lumps in the sauce. This would serve as a thickening agent.

-Add the flour mixture to the chicken stock and stir until slowly mixing flour and stock add the remaining half of the stock  and simmer to cook flour for five minutes, add salt to taste.

-Add the mixed vegetables, the bell peppers and the sliced frankfurters, stir and leave to simmer for five minutes.

-Add cooked chicken portions, boiled eggs and potatoes. Stir and leave to simmer on low heat for ten extra minutes, and remove from fire. Your curry sauce is now ready.

For the rice

• White rice
• water
• salt
• vegetable oil

How to prepare: 

- Bring water to a simmer, add the white rice and parboil (usually use two cups of water for every one cup on rice) for 10-15 minutes.

- Remove the rice, strain out the water and rinse to remove starch.

-Bring rice back to boil adding extra water, salt and vegetable oil. Boil rice for 30 minutes or until soft and water has completely dried up.

- Serve the rice with the sauce and enjoy.

Hope this recipe was helpful to all. It was a delicious recipe and I had fun making it and it tasted great. Thanks for checking it out. I welcome all comments and suggestions.

Bon appetit!