Roast Yam with Raw Pepper/Onion Sauce in Palm Oil

Roast Yam at home.

New yam cooks quite fast. No wonder it is favoured for roasting at this time of year. I have been passing by the stall of a lady near my home where she roasts yam to sell. The share planning of how to park near a bus stop to buy yam or indeed the several hands that have rocked the yams has put me off stopping to buy on the road side.

Much as I tried to push back the longing to have roast yam, it will not go away, so I caved in. I had to do it on my gas burner and it worked quite well. It required lowering the burner to the lowest flame and turning the yam regularly so it does not burn too much on one side.  I must say that I smelt a bit smoky after the whole roasting episode in the kitchen, but I enjoyed the result, hot yummy yam with the pepper and onion sauce.

After about 30 minutes of turning the yam frequently and part covering the yam with an empty pot, the yam was ready to be demolished.

Some dishes are not for every day consumption but it is comforting to know that when you want it at home you can make it without having to drive out in traffic.

 

Recipe for Roast Yam

1. Cut the yam into a 1 ½ – 2cm thick slice, and then cut slice into two pieces.
2. Place the yam on the burner and continue to turn until the yam is cooked. To help retain some heat around the yam and cook it I covered the yam with a pot on the burner for a few minutes in the middle of roasting.
3. Towards the end of roasting place the yam skin over the burner to burn off and you can use a knife to scrape off the burnt skin.
4. To check if yam is cooked pierce through with a fork.

The pepper/ Onion sauce 

1. Pound 2 red scotch bonnet peppers, 1 yellow pepper, and 1/4 small onion a little salt and seasoning cubes into a very coarse texture.

 

To Serve

1. Break the yam into bite size pieces, sprinkle on the pepper sauce, some palm oil and about 1 table spoon sliced fresh Utazi leaves.