West African Chili Recipes

WEST AFRICAN CHILI

Steps:

• Put the ham hock, bay leaves, garlic cloves, cumin and whole, dried lantern chilies in a large pot, cover with water, cover and bring to a boil and simmer for an hour. Add salt after a bit.
• In a separate pan, put the olive oil inches Cut up the yellow onions into little bits (1 cm squares) and caramelize them with the lid on. Add the cumin powder, curry powder, chili powder and hot paprika and coat the onions with the spices and toast the spices. Cut the tomatoes in half and shave them into the onions, discarding the skins. Stir a bit, cover and let cook for 15-20 more minutes Add salt to taste.
• Break up the cauliflower into bite-sized bits. Cut up the carrots and chard.
• Use a slotted spoon or noodle scooper, remove all the solid things from the broth. Discard the spices, remove the meat from the ham hock bone, skin it, and chop up the meat and add them and the bone back into the broth.
• Add the cauliflower and carrots to the pork broth, wait 5 mins after it starts to simmer again.
• Add the tomato-onion mixture. Then add the chard bits and stir.
• When it boils again, add the squished garlic. Taste and salt. It's ready.

WEST AFRICAN CHICKEN STEW

Steps:

• Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. In a Dutch oven, cook chicken over medium heat in 2 teaspoons oil for 4-6 minutes or until no longer pink; remove and set aside., In the same pan, saute onion in remaining oil until tender. Add garlic and ginger; cook 1 minute longer., Stir in the peas, tomatoes, sweet potato, broth, peanut butter, 1-1/4 teaspoons thyme and cayenne. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until potato is tender. Add chicken; heat through., Serve with rice if desired. Sprinkle with remaining thyme.

WEST TEXAS-STYLE BUFFALO CHILI

Steps:

• Soak beans in water overnight. Drain and rinse.
• In a large pot, combine beans with water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 1 to 2 hours, until tender. Once the beans have absorbed most of the water, and are starting to soften, season with chile powder, red pepper flakes, jalapeno, salt and pepper. Reserve the seeds.
• Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium low heat. Saute the onion and bell peppers for 3 minutes. Stir in diced zucchini, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and salsa. Season with jalapeno seeds and chili sauce, stir well, and leave on medium-low heat.
• Place ground buffalo meat in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain excess fat. Stir buffalo and vegetable mixture into beans. Continue to simmer for 1 hour.

VEGETARIAN WEST AFRICAN SOUP

Steps:

• To make peanut butter, process peanuts in food processor about 2 minutes until smooth, scraping the bowl at least once.
• In a Dutch oven over medium heat, sauté onion in oil about 7 minutes until lightly browned.
• Add peanut butter plus sweet potato through tomatoes.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, about 30 minutes until sweet potato is tender.
• Serve garnished with parsley.

WEST AFRICAN PEANUT STEW

Steps:

• Heat the peanut oil in a large pot over medium-high heat; cook and stir the onion, garlic, and ginger in the hot oil until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken; cook and stir until completely browned. Season with the crushed red pepper, salt, and black pepper. Pour the chicken stock over the mixture. Stir the sweet potatoes into the liquid and bring the mixture to a boil; reduce heat to low, cover the pot partially with a lid, and cook at a simmer for 15 minutes.
• Stir the tomatoes, collard greens, and peanut butter into the soup. Partially cover the pot again and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, another 20 minutes.