lafidi guinéen

I am not sure if i got the name right but we pronounce it as La-fi-di in maninka which is a dialect in Guinea. This is one of my fave dishes and very easy to make. Its a rice mixed with okra flower and mince meat/fried fish/smoked fish/meat balls.

Today will be on Mince meat.

 Ingredients(serves 8) 
1kg Beef mince meat, Unfrozen.. go to the butcher and tell him/her that you want special mince meat. Special mince meat is meat mince that has been ground twice.
2 medium sized onions
Onion leaves
2 large tomatoes
1 large egg plant
Onion leaves
2 Chillie Beef cubes
Cuury powder
Black pepper
Garlic
Ginger
Vegetable Cooking Oil
Salt
Fresh Green or Red Pepper
Tomato paste

Lets Cook 
In a hot pan, add the vegetable oil and the sliced onions.

sliced onions.

While the onions are cooking, cut the tomatoes and egg plants into cubes. When the onions are browning, add the tomatoes and egg plants into the pan.

egg plants

onions, egg plants and tomatoes.

Add one chillie beef cube, a tea spoon of curry powder, salt, black pepper and stir. add some water.

When the water has reduced add the meat, if its not frozen, place the meat in a bowl and add a small amount of water for the meat to mix well and add into the pan. This helps in making the meat not form into balls.

Mince meat added into the mixture

 Stir the mixture and add a table spoon of tomato paste.

Tomato paste added

stir the mixture and cover. add some water if need be, the meat needs to cook for 30mins.
Grate the ginger and garlic and add into the mixture.

garlic and ginger

Add chopped onion leaves and pepper. Reduce the heat and cover till the water is dry.

Add some oil if you think its to dry.

Its now ready and now remove from heat.






Rice time
4 cups of rice
salt

Rice

1 chillie beef cube
okra powder

Rince the rice in a bowl 4 times or until the rinsing water is clear.
1 cup of rice is 2 cups of water, so add 8 cups of water in a rice pan and bring to boil.

Add the rice into the boiling water and and stir. add 1/4 teaspoon of salt and stir. Cover the pan but keep checking on the rice and the water level.

Dried okra

Add water if you think the rice isn't cooked well.
When the water level has reduced, add a table spoon of okra powder which is dried okra that has been grinded to make powder.

Adding okra powder

Break the chilli beef cubes into small pieces and add on the rice, cover and reduce the heat.

 stir after every 5mins making for min and the rice is ready to be served.



Serving



Place the rice in a bowl and stir, making sure the chillie beef cubes and okra powder mixes well with the rice.

1 layer rice, 1 layer mince meat

In a serving bowl, add one layer of rice, then add a layer of  the mince meat. 









Then add another layer of rice and another layer of mince meat. repeat this continously or until the serving bowl is full. And you can place the remining rice and mince meat in another bowl.

Serve with chillie on top and enjoy.

Ready to eat.

mango smoothie

This will rock your mouth ;-)

We need
5 large Apple ripe mangoes

apple mangoes

Sugar (optional)
 Plain yogurt 500ml
Cinnamon sticks




Yummy

mangoes in the blender

Wash the mangoes, peel and cut into cubes and place into the blender,
add a little water and blend.

stop the blender and add 500ml of the plain yogurt. mix and serve in a cold jug. (empty jug placed in the freezer for an hour).

Shave the Cinnamon stick on to the mango smoothie and enjoy.

mango smoothie.

Okra gumbo

my favourite

Ingredients.
1 kg of okra/lady fingers
2 large red onions
3 large tomatoes
1 large egg plant
half a kilo of mince meat, preferably beef
 onion leaves
salt, black pepper
magi cubes, chillie beef cubes
100 grammes peanut butter
1/4 litre of palm oil
1 medium size cat fish (optional)

Let us  Begin
 wash the okra, cut but ends and place them in a separate bowl (this can be dried and used in another recipe :-) ) slice the okra thinly.

sliced okra

Place the okra in a pan and add COLD water (1 and 1/2 litre), add the sliced onions, tomatoes and egg plants and place on heat. cover the pan.

okra, egg plants, onions and tomatoes

When it starts boiling, uncover the pan and add salt, black pepper, magi cubes, chillie beef cubes and the mince meat which has been placed in a small amount of water. stir the mixture.



After 15 mins of occasionally stirring. add the peanut butter and stir making sure the peanut butter does not stick at the bottom of the pan.

If u have the smoked cat fish, wash with hot water, remove all the bones and add the fish in to the gumbo.

split smoked catfish

whole smoked catfish

palm oil

Cover the pan and reduce the heat, occasionally stirring. after 10 mins, add palm oil and chopped onion leaves.

Cover for 10 mins and you will know its ready when the peanut butter oil has risen to the top of the pan.

okra gumbo is ready

Serve with rice or fufu...

okra gumbo served with rice.

                               

                                               Bon appetite

Tamarind Chutney

Savoury sauce with a kick

We need;

tamarind/ukwaju

 25g of tamarind
 1 medium red onion

onion leaves

 1 bunch of onion leaves
 4 pieces of garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil/ vegetable cooking oil
salt to taste 




 Start
  Place the tamarind in 2 cups hot water for ten minutes. 

Add salt, garlic, sliced onions and onion leaves into the blender or juicer.

Remove seeds from tamarind and add into the blender.

Mix well for 5mins on high speed.

Add the olive oil/vegetable cooking oil and place in a bowl.

tamarind chutney

You can also add finely chooped parsley as a garnish.

Coconut chutney

Chutney for every meal.

What you need;

1 large coconut
1 bunch of parsley
1 large red onion
1 Bunc of onion leaves
1 Tea spoon of cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil 
4 curry leaves
1 bunch of parsley
2 medium sized lemons
salt.


Let US Begin 

 

 

 

mbuzi

I normally use the coconut mbuzi to remove the flesh of the coconut, its much easier. You can also use a spoon or a knife.

Place the flesh into a blender or food processor, add salt, sliced onions and onion leaves, cayenne pepper and toasted curry leaves, parsley and mix.

 Gradually add the lemon juice and a 3 table spoons of olive oil or vegetable oil. Mix for 5-10 mins or until finely blended.

coconut chutney

Coconut chutney is a savoury sauce. best used with bhajia

ENJOY THE SPICE

bhajia

Cooking with loved ones is the best

Ingredients; (serves 2)

8 large potatoes,
1 cup of All Purpose flour or green gram flour
A bunch of parsley (dania)
50 gramms of cummin seeds
Yellow food colour
Chilli powder (cayenne) or chopped chilli
Oil for frying

cummin seeds

Salt to taste









Preparations;

Peel the potatoes, slice them with a food slicer or by hand. they should be 2 cm.

food slicer

wash the potatoes and place them on a towel and cover them with with a towel or paper towels to drain all the water.

In a bowl, mix the flour (sift to remove lumps), salt (to taste), food colour (a pinch), chopped parsley and roasted cummin seeds (2 table spoons). Add a cup of water gradually to your desired thickness. But i like my batter slightly thick

Lets Cook.
Add cooking oil in a deep frying pan, wait for the oil to heat up (u can also add drops of batter, if they come to the surface,the oil is ready).

(In the meantime) In a bigger bowl, on one side add the batter and a  handful of the dry potatoes on the other side. Take a small amount of batter and add on the potatoes and mix them well. 
Make sure all the potatoes have been coated with the batter.

Add one by one in to the pan. if the bhajia's start browning, reduce the heat. They are normally ready after 8-10 mins or until brown.

Remove from the pan and place on paper towels to drain excess oil.
Repeat the process.

a great accompaniment will be guacamole.

Mince Meat with spicy potatoes

This one of my favorite dishes because it is quick, easy and cheap to make.

Ingredients.
1 kilogram of mince meat (beef steak minced twice)
5 large potatoes
2 large onions
4 large tomatoes
100g tomato paste
1 medium sized egg plant
a handful of parsley leaves
1 medium sized fresh ginger 
1 tablespoon of finely chopped garlic
teaspoon of  cummin seeds, fennel seeds
5 curry leaves
Salt, Black pepper powder, 2 chilli beef cubes, 1 tablespoon of curry powder
5 whole jalapeno peppers or 1 whole habanero pepper
vegetable oil

jalapeno peppers

habanero pepper

                                      Time to Cook

        Place the mince meat into a bowl and add 2 cups of water, heat the oil in a large pan,(4 tablespoons of oil), (add a pinch of cummin seed to the oil, if it shimmers, the oil is hot), add cummin, fennel, curry leaves and let it cook for 3mins and place in a bowl. Using the same pan, add 8 table spoons of cooking oil, add 1 1/2 of the onions, medium sliced, stir until light brown then add the diced tomatoes with a little water, cover the pan.
When the tomatoes are cooked, add 1 teaspoon of salt and black pepper powder, 2 chilli beef cubes, 1 tablespoon of curry powder and stir. Add little water for the mixture to cook well. After 5mins, add the mince meat with the water, stir and cover the pan. Cook in medium heat
 In another pan, boil the potatoes (pealed and cur into cubes, which ever size you want, but i prefer each potato to have 4 cubes ) add a pinch of salt. Boil for 10mins or half cooked. Drain the water and pace the potatoes in a bowl. Using the same pan, add 5 Tablespoons of  oil, medium heat, add the remaining onions, stir, add the chopped garlic and ginger and stir till brown. 
Add a little water and cover for 5 mins, add the potatoes, stir and cover. let the potatoes cook till tender and add the spices you had heated earlier, toss and don,t cover.
The mince meat must be ready now, add chopped peppers and serve.
The potatoes should be served with finely chopped parsley and peppers. You can serve with rice or chapati.
Pictures of this recipe will come soon.. 
Bon Appetit