Senegalese Soup

Senegalese Soup is a creamed curry soup that features a mix of fresh ingredients and spices.

2 tablespoons butter

1 small onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 teaspoon curry powder

3 sticks cinnamon

1 tsp. whole cloves

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon red currant jelly

1 tablespoon tomato puree

2-1/4 tablespoon. Tomato puree

2-1/4 tablespoons almond paste

5 cups vegetable broth

3 tablespoons buttermilk

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups heavy cream

grated coconut, toasted

In a large pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Cook the onion, carrot, and celery in the butter over moderate heat, stirring, until they are tender (about 8-10 minutes). Add the curry powder and blend thoroughly with the vegetables. Add and mix in the cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, jelly, tomato puree, almond paste, and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 hour, skimming off the foam that rises to the surface.

Kneed 3 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons of flour. Gradually blend small pieces of this paste into the soup, using a wire whisk. Cook until slightly thickened (5-6 minutes). Strain and taste for seasonings; add salt and pepper to taste. Cool and refrigerate for at least three hours. Just before leaving on your picnic, add well-chilled cream and combine thoroughly with the soup. Carry the toasted coconut in a separate container. Garnish each serving with a generous sprinkle of coconut. Serves 6-8.

How to Make Ethiopian Injera Bread

Photo: (lower center) A waiter at the Addis Ababa Restaurant in Ethiopia opens a wicker cover
from a circular basket table with a wonderful spread of injera bread.

A common thread in much of the cuisine of Africa is the stew and bread combination. This can be found from the fufu and stew dishes of West Africa to the stew, or wat, of Ethiopia that is served with the unique rounds of injera bread.

The injera bread is the equivalent of the tortilla to a Mexican and rice to a Chinese. It is traditionally made of teff, a flour milled from a specially high grade of millet. It is a flat bread that is cooked like a giant pancake on a covered ceramic griddle. The injera cook pours the injera batter on a hot griddle in a circular fashion, from the outside inward. The griddle is then covered with a lid.  The edges of the covered griddle imay then be additionally sealed with the a damp towel. In minutes the injera is ready. Below is an excellent instructional video illustrating how to make injera from the more commonly found flour used outside of Ethiopia.

SERVING INJERA BREAD

Once injera is made it is often stored in quantity for a few days for an average family. When serving the bread, stew, or wat, will be poured over the injera along with other side dishes, such as vegetables and lentils. Dinners will tear off pieces of the bread with their fingers and garnish it with wat.

The culinary tradition of Ethiopia offers its participants an opportunity to partake in a highly ritualistic experience. This will begin by the formal washing of hands that occurs before a formal dinner to the serving of traditional Ethiopian coffee at the end of a meal.

One of the romantic rituals of Ethiopian dining occurs when a companion chooses an attractive morsel of food, served in injera bread to the mouth of an intimate other. The spicy stew may be enjoyed with the traditional Ethiopian honey wine, the tej drink. If you have never enjoyed injera, look for a local Ethiopian restaurant in your city to start off your journey towards learning to prepare this traditional African bread. 

West African Peanut Soup with Chicken

Photo: Senegalese Peanut Soup with Chicken

The use of peanut, also referred to as groundnut, is widespread in Africa for both its oil and to be eaten for its own sake. Peanut sauces primarily consist of pounded peanuts that have been boiled and blended into a thick soup or stew. Sauces may be flavored with herbs, crushed peppers, onions, seafood or meats, or made with vegetables or mushrooms. In Cameroon, the people have a flair for including their large prawns and shrimps, grilled on wooden skewers, in a peanut sauce.

West African peanut stews re frequently paired with roasted Chicken. Made in Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, the secret of the dish said one West African cook is removing the excess peanut oil that rises to the surface as the peanut stew simmers. Peanut stews are also served with boiled rice or fufu, hard-boiled eggs, fried plantains and diced fruits such as pineapple or papaya cubes.

Chicken-Groundnut Stew (West Africa Recipe) - Serves 6

A 5- to 6-pound chicken, cut and chopped into 12 or more pieces
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 cut peanut oil
1 cup finely chopped onions
5 medium-sized firm ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped and pureed through a food mill
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup dried ground shrimp, if available
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon finely granted, scraped fresh ginger root
1/2 teaspoon ground hot red pepper
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
6 cups boiling water
1/4 cup coarsely crumbled dried small fish, if available
2 whole fresh hot chilies, each about 3 inches long
1 cup peanut butter and 1 cup cold water beaten to a smooth paste
12 large fresh okra, washed and stemmed, or 12 frozen okra
6 hard-cooked eggs

Pat the chicken completely dry with paper towels. Combine the salt and ground ginger, and rub the mixture evenly over each piece of chicken. In a heavy 5- to 6-quart casserole, heat the oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Brown the chicken in the hot oil, 3 or 4 pieces at a time, turning the pieces frequently with tongs and regulating the heat so that they color richly and evenly without burning. As they brown, transfer the pieces to a plate.

Discard all but about 1/4 cup of the oil remaining in the pan and drop in the chopped onions. Stirring frequently and scraping the browned particles from the bottom of the pan, cook the onions for about 5 minutes, until they are soft and translucent. Watch carefully for any sign of burning and reduce the heat if necessary.

Add the pureed tomatoes, tomato paste, ground shrimp (if available), garlic, ginger root, red pepper and white pepper. Raise the heat to high and stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.

Stirring constantly, pour in the boiling water in a thin stream and add the dried fish (if available) and the whole chilies (de-seed). Return the chicken and any liquid accumulated around it to the casserole, and turn the pieces about with a spoon until they are evenly coated. Cook uncovered over low heat for 15 minutes.

Stir in the peanut-butter paste and the okra, and continue cooking uncovered for about an hour, or until the chicken is tender and the dark meat shows no resistance when pierced with the point of a small, sharp knife. Add the hard-cooked eggs and simmer for 4 or 5 minutes, or until the eggs are heated through.

Serve the stew at once, directly from the casserole or mounded attractively in a heated bowl or deep platter, accompanied by as many of the garnishes as you like. In West Africa, chicken-peanut stew is often served with fufu or with an accompaniment of various fruits or vegetables.

Photo: West African chicken and peanut stew

Diced tomato salad garnish:
2 large firm ripe tomatoes
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground hot red pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Drop the tomatoes into a pan of boiling water and let them boil briskly for about 10 seconds. Run cold water over them and, with a small, sharp knife, peel them. Cut out the stems, then slice the tomatoes in half crosswise. Squeeze the halves gently to remove the seeds and juice, and chop the tomatoes as fine as possible.

In a small serving bowl, combine the lemon juice, ground red pepper and salt, and stir until well mixed. Add the tomatoes and toss together gently but thoroughly. Let the salad marinate at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving.

African Culinary Fusion: The Secret African Kitchen - Swahili Paste