MPOTO MPOTO (YAM PORRIDGE OR POTTAGE)

Yam Pottage (as called by Nigerians) MPOTO-MPOTO ( as called by most Ghanaians, the Akan name)or Yam porridge (perfect way for me to describe it) is a delicious and quick recipe and one that's synonymous to both Ghanaians and Nigerians. 

The creamy and lightly spiced taste would leave you wanting for another plate. The Yam Pottage gets its bright orange colour from the spiced Palm oil used. Please ensure your Palm oil is sustainably produced and for the best type go for Zomi (which is produced perfectly by the Ewe tribe of Ghana). Zomi is Palm oil infused with secret spices which packs a great flavour. A perfect choice for this dish.

Try using smoked Fish for an authentic flavour. I opted for Prawns instead as I didn't have any smoked fish, however by adding Shrimp powder it gave the dish an intense seafood flavour.

I call it making the most of what you have😜. 

Ingredients 

250g of peeled and cubed Yam

500ml of Fish stock

2 tablespoonfuls of Zomi (Spiced Palm oil).

1 large diced Onion

1 chopped green chilli

250g of shelled Prawns (or smoked Fish)

1 teaspoonful of Shrimp powder or Shrimp stock

20g of finely chopped spring onions and Green chillies(optional)

Salt to taste.

 

Method 

Place the Yam cubes and Fish stock in a saucepan on a medium heat. 

(Cubed Yams cooks quicker, however you can slice them as shown below).

Boil for 10-12 minutes.

 

In a frying pan, melt the Zomi (don't burn it as you'll loose the beautiful flavour of the Zomi).

Add the diced Onions and fry gently for 2 minutes.

Add the chilli and Shrimp powder and fry for another minute.

Transfer the oil mixture (Zomi, Onions, Shrimp powder and Chilli) to the boiling Yam. 

Add salt to taste. 

Cook for a further 8 minutes 

Add the Prawns and cook for another 2 minutes. 

The Yam at this stage will have a mushy and slightly firm consistency.

Tip

Mash the Yam further with a wooden spoon (careful not to mash into a smooth paste). It's best to have some Yam bites as this gives the dish the perfect texture.

 Cover the mixture for a further 2 minutes (the steam will cook the Prawns further). 

Serve warm and sprinkle with chopped Spring Onions (which is optional) and enjoy! 

Watch the full recipe on my YouTube channel, 'Ndudu by Fafa'. Please don't forget to subcribe, try the recipe, leave a comment with your feedback and share with family and friends. 

All photos,recipes and videos are by the owner of this blog. 

ADEME DESSI OR DETCHI (MOLOKHAI SOUP) RECIPE

‘Thank you Mama, I appreciate you a lot’, as I ended the call with my Mum.  I asked my Mum if she could get a few bags of Ademe or Molokhia leaves, since a friend was visiting London.

Mum advised, she’ll have them vacuum packed to protect its freshness and strict instructions on cooking them immediately I receive them. Mum handed the bag of food items with their certificates to my friend an hour before take off and sent a text to say it was on its way to me.

After 7 hours, I had a call from my friend to say she’d arrived. I arranged for a Taxi to pick the items up to my house and I started cooking straight away.

Ademe or Molokhia leaves are very nutritious and have a high Iron content. It’s great for your digestive system and bloating due to the mucilaginous structure of the plant. 

During my childhood, we were at the market at dawn to get the freshest of ingredients. Ademe was one of the vegetables Mum needed as fresh as possible. She insisted on the small like looking ones (which I believe were the Organic ones) and were the tastiest. Immediately we got home, we had to pick the stalks from the leaves, which was time consuming, considering how small they were. During the process of picking, which involved a few people, we had our chats including how we’re looking forward to the dish.

Mum always had specific ladies she bought specific ingredients from, with clear instructions and the Ademe had to be less than 12 hours old from picking when she purchased it. 

I couldn’t understand her fuss and questioned what difference it made? On our next visit, Mum purchased both the small and large Ademe leaves. She cooked the large leaves separately from the small leaves and left some of the small leaves in the fridge for 3 days. 

I loved the taste of the small leaves as they were intense with flavours in comparison to the large leaves.

After 3 days in the fridge the remaining uncooked leaves looked different. The stalks and leaves didn’t have their fresh green colour, instead they had a deeper green colour with a few leaves turning black and not smelling particularly nice.

I picked the bad leaves from the rest and noticed the stalks were harder. I learnt a valuable lesson that day and vowed to always cook my leaves within 36 hrs of picking.

It’s almost impossible to get these fresh leaves here in London.  What’s readily available are the frozen ones, which are okay but can’t beat the taste of the small fresh leafy type.

I had a big smile on my face as I knew Christmas came in early for me, because this is my favourite dish in the whole wide world.

Ademe or Molokhia leaves dates back to 5000BC , where it was and still is consumed by Egyptians and named as the ‘food for Gods’, due to its high nutritional content. Subsequently the leaves have been enjoyed in Sudan, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria , Sierra Leone and the Middle East. The Ewe tribe of Ghana  and Togolese do make Ademe Detchi or Dessi with the leaves and the Northerners of Ghana do make Tuo Zaafi with the leaves.

Nigerians also use it to prepare their soup called  Ewedu.

Traditionally Smoked Or Grilled deboned Mackerel is used alongside Crabs and Prawns for this soup. I used grilled Tilapia and Barracuda instead, because that’s what I had available. 

If you’re using the frozen leaves, defrost it naturally and it should be the last thing you add to your stock. Cook it for 4 minutes and no longer to keep the green colour of the leaves.

INGREDIENTS 

1kg of picked fresh Ademe / Molokhia leaves 

1kg of Smoked or Grilled Tilapia or Mackerel 

500g of Smoked Barracuda (Known as Lizzy)

300g of fresh Crabs

300g of fresh Prawns

700ml of Water

40g of blended Ginger, Onion, Aniseed and Garlic

2 large sliced Onions

1 Habanero chilli or 10 green Ghanaian chillies

Optional Shrimp stock cube

1 teaspoon of Bicarbonate Soda or Akaun

Salt to taste

METHOD 

Watch how to prepare this dish below and don’t forget to like the video😘

Don’t forget to subscribe, try the recipe, leave comments with your feedback and share with your family and friends.

All photos, recipes and videos are by the owner of this blog. 

QUICK DOUGHNUT RECIPE (BOFLOT, BOFROT, PUFF PUFF, BEIGNETS)

I’ve written a few doughnut recipes over time and I still try to improve the recipe each time.

I craved for hot doughnuts one morning and I was put off by how long it took. I decided to mix everything together and use my warm oven to speed up the process of the dough rising. 

Whilst waiting for my dough to rise, I decided to compile a few do’s and don’ts when preparing your Boflot/ Puff Puff/ Beignets/ Botokoin/ Bofrot/ Doughnuts 

1. Don’t use milk; as it browns the doughnuts quickly 
2. Use Water instead; as it allows the doughnuts to cook through before browning.
3. Your dough should double up in size within 45 minutes to an hour. 
4. Allowing your dough to rise overnight increases the fermentation of the mixture. This will allow the doughnuts to soak in the oil when frying.
5. Best to place your dough in a warm place to quicken the process of it rising. Warm yout Oven up to 180*c and switch it off. Place the covered dough on top of the door to your Oven. If you’re lucky enough and you live in a hot and sunny country, place your covered dough mixture in the sun instead.
6. Heat your oil up on a medium heat for 5 minutes. Test the oil is perfect by frying one ball. The ball should rise to the surface within 10 seconds. When this happens you have the perfect oil temperature. 
7. Ensure you shape the balls evenly to allow an even cook
8. Don’t overload your saucepan when frying the doughnuts. This will decrease the temperature of the oil and the doughnuts will be filled with oil.
9. Don’t share with anyone 🙈😜 Enjoy!

Please note this recipe is for the wet version, however you can watch how to make the dry version below;

INGREDIENTS 

225g of Plain flour

30g of melted Butter

Half a teaspoon of grated Nutmeg or Mace

1 teaspoon of Salt

3 tablespoons of Sugar

1 tablespoon of dry Yeast

110ml of Water

700ml of Vegetable oil

METHOD 

Armed with the above hacks, you should always make the best doughnut each time.

Watch how to make this quick doughnut recipe below;

Don’t forget to subscribe, try the recipe, leave a comment with your feedback, like the video and share with your family and friends.

All photos, recipes and videos are by the owner of this blog.

THE BEST TASTING SALTED BEEF RECIPE (TOLO BEEF)

Salted Beef is used in flavouring most Ghanaian dishes. The recipe for the Ghanaian salted Beef is elusive, however it’s usually pink in colour due to the inclusion of food dye. 

This recipe has been trialed and tested multiple times to achieve the perfect taste. 

The inclusion of spices into the curing process of the meat , gives the meat a musky and aromatic taste. 

The process took a month and it was worth the effort.

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS 

350g of Sirloin steak

50g of Sea Salt

10 Grains of Selim pods

5 Star Anise or 1 teaspoonful of Aniseed.

METHOD 

Watch how to prepare your own salted Beef below;

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All photos, recipes and videos are by the owner of this blog.

SHOKO (A GHANAIAN BEEF & SPINACH STEW)

Shoko is a spicy Beef, Tomato and Spinach sauce from Ghana. The Tomato sauce is spiced with Garlic, Ginger and Aniseed; and cooked till you have a thick paste. This is a perfect dish for the cold months ahead.

Traditionally the amount of Chilli used is more, as it’s supposed to be very spicy. I’ve used 1 Habanero Chilli for this recipe which worked perfectly. You can reduce the amount of Chilli to your personal preference. 

Ingredients 

1 large Onion 

10ml of Vegetable oil or your preferred oil

200g of Tomatoes 

1 tablespoonful of Tomato paste or purée 

1 tablespoonful of a Garlic, Ginger & Aniseed blend

Half a Shrimp stock cube or a teaspoon of Shrimp powder 

1 large and sliced Habanero Chilli

400g of Spinach or Cocoyam leaves

Salt to taste

Method 

Enjoy this sauce and with either Rice, Yam or Potatoes.

PERFECT RICE RECIPE 

Watch how to make this sauce below;

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All photos, recipes and videos are by the owner of this blog.

CHINCHINGA (THE PERFECT GHANAIAN KHEBAB RECIPE)

Chinchinga (Beef Khebab) is one of the popular street food, you’ll find in most streets corners across Ghana. Chinchinga is made with either Beef or Goat meat marinated in the famous Suya spice and chargrilled. It’s best enjoyed with a chilled glass of Beer.

 Enjoy making your own Suya spice and proceed to make this famous and flavour packed Ghanaian Khebab.

Ingredients: 

Suya spice mix

350g of Sirloin steak

1 large Onion

1 large Green pepper

10 ml of Vegetable oil

Method:

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All photos, recipes and videos are by the owner of this blog.

ROSEMARY INFUSED GRILLED RED SNAPPER

‘Can I have the Red Snapper, Barracuda and Sea Bass, please?’ 

I couldn’t control my excitement, when I discovered my local grocery shop had a  Fishmonger at the back of the shop. The Fishmonger had all the exotic Fishes, Seafood, live Crabs  etc. I was happy, cause the Red Snapper, Barracuda and Sea Bass, were the freshest I’ve seen in the UK.

The Fishmonger was welcoming, answered all my questions and followed my YouTube page immediately.

I decided to prepare  Shito (Black Chilli sauce from Ghana), infuse and grill the Red Snapper with Rosemary and have it with fried Yam chips. Yummy!

I reserved some of the Tomato sauce for the Shito; marinated the Red Snapper with the sauce, stuffed it with sprigs of Rosemary and grilled it for 18-25 minutes. Let’s start cooking;

Ingredients 

1 kg of cleaned and gutted Red Snapper 

4 tablespoonfuls of Smoky Salsa Sauce or spiced Tomato sauce for Shito

3 sprigs of Rosemary 

300g of peeled and cut Yam, lengthways into a chip shape

500ml of Vegetable Oil

Salt to taste

SMOKY SALSA SAUCE RECIPE 

Onion Salad

1 large Pink, White or Red Onion sliced thinly 

1 teaspoonful of Wine Vinegar

10g of finely chopped Parsley

Pinch of salt

Method 

Onion Salad

Mix everything together and serve immediately with the Grilled Snapper.

SHITO RECIPE 

Watch how to grill the Red Snapper and fry your Yam chips below;

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All photos, recipes and videos are by the owner of this blog.