Dodo ikire (Nigeria spice plantain)

This is a spicy, savory and sweet treat as it combines the sweetness of very ripe plantains with pepper, onions and salt.

Unlike the popular Ghanaian kelewele which has seemingly similar ingredients, this is all mashed and mixed together before frying to create this dark sinfully delightful plantain treat.

Dodo ikire is named after the town of ikire where this traditional recipe originates from in Osun state.

Legend has it that it was created by a poor old woman who was so impoverished that she couldn't throw away the over ripe plantain she had left.

If you've ever travelled through there and neighboring towns and toll gates, you must have come across lots of street vendors and "hawkers" trying to sell you some.

It's a lovely treat worth trying if you haven't tasted it before. Your tastebuds would thank you!!!

Ingredients 

Very ripe plantain 

Small amount of onion

Fresh or dried crushed peppers

Salt to taste

Veg or palm oil (I preferred veg oil)

Step 1 chop up the plantain into smal cubes..  Add in the peppers, onion and little salt to taste

Step 2. Stir while gently mashing the plantain.. Don't over do it!!!. Leave for few mins to marinate

Step 3. Heat up the oil, when hot enough start dropping in the plantain in little ball shapes (they will come apart, so don't worry.. Because ones fried and alittle cooled, you can use you hands in shaping then together)... 

Step 4. The plantain will start turning brown, at this point keep an eye on them.. Otherwise they will burn. 

Finally... All ready for consumption, before I could say "Jack Robinson".. The kids are them all up.... #Smiling 

Authentic Nigerian Fried rice

Everyone loves fried rice!!!

There are a million and one fried rice recipes worldwide but the Nigerian fried rice tugs at our heartstrings overtime. While Jollof rice is our first love, is there a Nigerian party complete without fried rice? 

A classic Nigerian fried rice contains a bright medley of vegetables like carrots, peas, string beans and sweet corn, a healthy dose of proteins, particularly chopped liver and shrimps and a healthy dose of herbs and seasonings like curry powder and dried thyme.

*It must be noted that it doesn't have the durability of Jollof rice and gets spoilt if not handled carefully. Please don't cover until its cool and store in a fridge if keeping overnight.

INGREDIENTS

*Good quality Long grain rice

*Vegetable oil

*Mixed veg (frozen or fresh.. Never overcook your vegetable, as they loss essential nutrients)

*Cooked kidney (cut into small chunks)

*Prawns or Sprimps (fresh or pre-cooked)

*Curry

*Thyme

*Stock cube (chicken stock cube preferably) 

Wash the rice 

Drain properly

Add to a pot of boiling water 

Add in stock cube (I prefer adding stock cube rather than salt..). Place a lid on, then allow to cook 

In your frying pan, add in vegetable oil then the kidney (allow to fry for few mins, you don't want to over fry as kidneys do tend to go hard when over cooked or fried).

Then the curry and thyme

Next, add in the prawns, stock cube (remember we've added some to the boiling rice, so we only need a little here), then mixed vegetables (if using frozen mixed vegetables, make sure to defrost first). Allow to fry for 2-5mins. 

Now pour the mix into the almost cooked rice.

Stir all together (when stirring fried rice or jollof rice always stir from bottom to top very gently, then hit the stirring spoon on the side of the pot to remove any sticking rice, before stirring again.. Try not to over stir, as this causes the rice to go mushy and burn).

At this point, the rice needs to steam.
To steam, place a clean washed nylon/carrier bag over the rice, then put the lid of the pot on top to seal in all heat. You can also use aluminum foil in place of the bag.  Steam for 3-5mins, taste for salt and add more salt/stock cube if needed.

Turn off the heat and remove the pot from the cooker to rest before serving 

And here it is,  served with oven grilled ginger and garlic salmon. Try my method today and give some feedback. Thanks.

Beer meat A.K.A "Fried SUYA".. perfect for relaxing at evening and weekends

By NK's PASSIONS

#‎BeerMeat‬ a.k.a fried "Suya" ......Who remembered those lovely savoury and Peppery meat they tie in little plastic bags then called Beer Meat?  But they call it ‪#‎Suya‬ now .. Down South we call it BeerMeat. I used‪#‎MincedMeat‬ instead of 'chopped' beef.  Amazing taste!! .. I am adding this to my "Nigerian Starters" recipes! VERY VERY Time consuming but totally worth it!!! 

Ingredients

•Minced Beef (or cut your Beef into little squares) 4KG
•Yaji and Suya Spice 
•Dried Thyme, Curry, Ginger, Garlic and some Knoor and Royco (any bullion) 
•Onions 
•Frying Oil 

Red Onions and Cherry tomatoes to serve

Step 1. Seasoning the meat

Step 2. Add in the Knorr, Royco and Maggi cubes (Having special relationship with Royco by the way)

Step 3. Then added like 3-4cups of water (measuring cups), 

Step 4. Then allow to cook for up to 7mins  ...

Step 5. That's how it should look when cooked ... Time to drain!

Step 6. The meat stock .., store in the Fridge or Freezer for emergency Jollof rice 

Step 7. Right after sieving all your Mince... Time to add your #Yaji and some Bullion Cubes (any)

Step 8.I sectioned it because it was quiet a lot ... And added 2-3 tbsp of Yaji and 2 cubes of Maggi 

Step 9. Meanwhile Heat up your oil... And drop half or full ball of onions to flavour the oil ..

Step 10.  TheN pour in your Minced meat.. And FRY. I had to change my pot because i needed a bigger and deep pot to Fry!

Step 11. Till they are proper fried!! ...

Step 12.  And transfer to a #BakingTray ... Yep!!!!! Is not done yet😬

Step 13. Then add more Yaji and #Suya spice .., like kind of A lot!!! .. Then Mix and Bang in the Oven for 20-30mins ... So is proper DRY!!!

Step 14. After 20-30mins, bring  it out  of the oven sprinkle more Suya pepper then with a spoon mix al together to combine... then let it air out for few hrs and is ready to be served. 

Step 15. Serve with Onions and Cherry tomatoes ... The taste is  AMAZING!!!!.. or better still store in a ziploc bag, for later

EGUSI PEPPERSOUP

Egusi pepper soup  is a popular pepper soup variation in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. It's simply a spicy peppersoup thickened with egusi and can be enjoyed with rice, pounded yam, eba or any swallow of your choice and its particularly delightful to have on a cold day.
If u ever needed something to warm your innards and keep the cold at bay on a cold evening, this soup is for you.

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This soup can be cooked with any meat or fish of your choice but to give it a kick I'll recommend goat meat or catfish. To take it to the next level simply add some dried catfish or any good quality dried fish. The flavor profile simply does things to your brains and you just don't want it to end!
I didn't have any dried fish on the day I cooked it though, being a sunday evening after church and a couple of visits, I just couldn't be bothered to leave my house again to pursue that but it did come out awesome!!!

Ingredients:
Goat meat about 10 medium cut pieces
Knorr cubes (not pictured)
Delta Peppersoup spices (african nutmeg, ehuru,eriérié) Or any good quality peppersoup spice blend*
1 tablespoon dried pepper
1 cup of egusi blended dry (a wet blend can also be used)
1 tablespoon ground dried crayfish
1 teaspoon dried bitter leaf*

*Even when I use a storebought pepper soup mix I also add some of mine at home to achieve my desired taste. Pictured is one bought fro Ebeano stores in Lekki, Lagos. I'll say its one of the best store mixes I've tried.

*Other leaves that can be used are ukazi and scent leaf.

 fresh goat meat

 spices, seasonings and egusi.

 store bought peppersoup mix

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Season your meat with the knorr cubes (or any bouillon/stock cube of your choice, avoid anything too exotic as you don't want to disrupt the peppersoup taste).
Cook for about 45 minutes or until your meat is soft enough for your preference.

Begin adding the other ingredients. First goes in the pepper...

Next your ground crayfish...

 Add your peppersoup spices after you have removed the shells and crushed or blended. Stir it all.

Now add the egusi and stir again. The amount of egusi you use shouldn't be too much. This is meant to be a slightly watery soup but not too watery either.

EMERGENCY!!!
Unfortunately at this stage, I discovered my soup was slightly salty!!! I threw in some slices of sweet potatoes to help absorb some of the salt! This rescued my soup, whew!!!
Allow the soup cook for about 10 more minutes after adding all your ingredients and its ready to eat.

Here's the soup served with some semovita. This is one soup to try if you've never eaten it before. Switch things up a little and enjoy!!!

Nutella and chilli flakes puff puff.. Nigeria puff puff just got a makeover

Nutella and chilli flakes puff puff covered in cinnamon sugar

Today was one of them days, I got fed up of eating the same old plain puff puff. I sat down thinking of how I could redefine it with something the kids would LOVE, going through my kitchen cabinets I spotted our jar of leftover #Nutella smiling back at me!!!Then it hit home!!!

I enjoyed making these and my kids enjoyed eating them.... bless them. 

Please note for this recipe self raising flour was used, compared to plain flour which would require up to 45mins or longer for the yeast to completely work its magic. 

When using self raising flour, you need not to wait long 10mins max is just fine.

Preparation/cooking time : 25Mins

Ingredients

270grams of self raising flour

2 Tablespoon nutella

7g fast active dry yeast

260ml cup of warm water

50grams granulated Sugar

Pinch of sea salt or normal salt

1 teaspoon of chilli flakes ( optional)

Procedure... 

Step 1.. Get all ingredients ready

Step 2..  Activate the yeast by pouring warm water into a cup,  then adding the yeast into the water

 Step 3.. Add in tablespoon of sugar

Step 5.. Stir and leave to froth for up to 5mins.  

Step 6.. Measure the flour into a clean bowl

Step 7.. Add in the salt

Step 8.. Add in the #nutella

 Step 9.. Then sugar

 Step 10.. And water

 Step 11... Then the froth yeast mix

Step 12.. Combine the ingredients with a wooden spatula

 Step 13.. Finally, the chilli flakes.... Note this option can be skipped.

Step 17.. Once properly combined, place in the microwave or any warm place... this helps the dough increase in size due to the active yeast . You can leave for as long as possible, but because its self raising flour 5mins - 10mins sitting time is fine

Step 18.. Heat up the deep fryer.. (a deep wok can also be used). Then gently start dropping in the batter in the hot oil.

 Step 19.. Once properly fried, gently take them out.. then place on a kitchen towel, so excess oil can drain off

Step 20.. The inside should look like this. Delightful!!!

Lastly serve!!!

*A side dip of nutella and some sprinkled chilli flakes can join the yummy party :)