This week on our Afro Cuisine recipe is the famous Waakye. It is another #TastyThursday and we want you to savor a taste of Africa. You can search for the ingredients in African stores around you; or better still take a trip to Africa and give your tastebuds a treat.
Waakye is a Ghanaian dish of cooked rice and beans, commonly eaten for breakfast or lunch. However, others eat it for supper. The rice and beans, usually black eyed peas or cow beans, are cooked together, along with red dried sorghum leaf sheaths or stalks and limestone.
Ingredients For Waakye
2 cups black eyed beans
2 cups rice
6 dry sorghum leaves (or 1 teaspoon of baking soda)
4 tablespoon oil
Salt to taste
Preparation
- Soak the black eyed beans in enough water to cover them overnight then cook them until just soft the following day or cook the dried beans in a pressure cooker for about 15-20 mins. You must ensure the beans are just getting soft and not mushy because they will continue cooking with the rice.
- Be sure to wash the sorghum leaves before cutting them to 3–4 inches. Now, toss them in with the boiling beans, and allow them to cook together. If sorghum leaves are not available, add a teaspoon of baking soda to give the Waakye its distinct colour. Remember to remove the sorghum leaves from the beans after 5 minutes. If it’s baking soda, add the soda to the cooking beans. The soda will fizz once added so you might want to leave the lid off until this goes down (about 3 minutes). Season well with salt and add the oil.
- Now add your washed rice and mix it in thoroughly. If there isn’t enough liquid add a bit more enough to just cover the rice.
- Leave to cook until rice is soft, mixing with a fork half way through. The rice will get a darker colour as it cools down.
- Serve with your favourite stew, avocado or salad or any of the other sides mentioned above.