Ndole Sauce with Boiled Plantain

My food journey today takes me to Cameroun to cook Ndole.
 But as a little digression, I was at a women’s meeting the other weekend organized by a church. As part of empowering their  women worshippers were thought  the art of fine dining. As I sat there the back lash of what will come was all that was on my mind. The average Nigerian woman with fine dining? The ladies listened attentively for some time and then what I expected happened, whispers and giggles from the back. Many did not even get it. It was not their world. To save the day, the Pastor’s wife came to the rescue and asked the question most of the women clearly wanted answers to ‘how do you manage cow-leg and crab using fork and knife in fine dining’ the room of course erupted in laughter.

Some  things are best eaten with your hands, Cow-leg and crab in shell…Well I did pick a few things though, which is to place your napkin neatly on your seat if you have to excuse your self from the table for some time.
I also picked up where to place  the cutlery when you are done eating for American or Spanish meals. Will my Naija waiters know this? I certainly hope so.
Hmmmm so much for fine dining……
I  am returning  to Cameroon again after my last presentation of  Poulet DG that is Chicken Director General. This time it’s Ndole. It is a popular sauce eaten with plantains, rice or miondo which I understand is made from Cassava. When I tried it was a bit hard and wondered how this will digest so I decided to pass on this one.

My Camerounian friend whom I consulted on this dish says the bitterness of the dish is to taste.  You can make Ndole slightly bitter or get rid of all the bitterness by steaming the bitter leaf with potash. I opted for the slightly bitter version. I avoid potash as much as possible as it tends to badly affect some nutrients in foods.
Enjoy Ndole.

Recipe for Ndole Sauce

4 cooking spoons Raw Groundnut paste
2 cups washed Bitter leaves
12 pieces Beef
2 segments Stockfish
1 cups fresh Shrimps
one table spoon crush Garlic
1 table spoon ground fresh Ginger
2 tablespoons ground crayfish
1 whole Onion ( sliced)
Yellow Cameroon Pepper to taste
4 cooking spoons Groundnut oil

Method making Ndole Sauce

1, Season the beef with onion, salt, pepper and beef seasoning and steam till soft.
2, Season Stockfish and steam separately till soft.
3, Pour ground nut paste into a pot  with 2 cups of water and bring to boil  on medium heat for about 20 minutes. High heat will cause the paste to stick to the pot and burn . Stir paste with wooden spoon at intervals. The paste is cooked when the colour turns beige from white.
4, In a separate pot or frying pan using about 1 cooking spoon oil, fry the onion, and shrimp
5, Add the bitter leaf, crayfish, pepper, seasoning, garlic and ginger, beef and stock fish to the ground nut sauce and cook for about 10 minutes
6, Lastly add the fried onion ,shrimp and remaining oil and cook for about 10minutes. The oil of the sauce should turn green by now.Taste and correct seasoning .
7, Serve with boiled plantains, yam or rice

Tip: Place your raw groundnut in the oven and heat for a few minutes and the skin will easily come off.