This recipe is really two dishes in one. Fried plantains on one hand and a flavorful shrimp and black-eyed peas stew on the other hand. As typically goes when I go on the hunt for new recipes, I wanted to use some of the ingredients I had at home, in this case: black-eyed peas, shrimps, tomato paste and plantains. And yes, I did find the one recipe that makes excellent use of all those ingredients. Imagine my joy at being so lucky! Unfortunately, I had mixed feelings about the results, fried plantains are fried plantains, I have made them more times than I care to remember (when I come to think of it, I probably passed the 10,000 hours mark, which qualifies me as an expert!), so they did not disappoint. The stew though, took some adjusting. I thought the black-eyed peas’ taste blended too much with the tomato and shrimp, giving the dish a starchy note I did not care for. Overall, it was a new experience and I enjoyed it, but I am not sure I would make this recipe again. What do you think? Do you have any suggestions of changes I could make to reduce the starchy taste of the stew?
Recipe adapted from: www.tropicalchefs.com
Plantains with black-eyed peas Recipe
Serves | 4 |
Prep time | 20 minutes |
Cook time | 2 hours, 40 minutes |
Total time | 3 hours |
Ingredients
- 300g black-eyed peas
- 100g onion (chopped)
- 1 Large tomato
- 2 tablespoons tomato puree
- 2 hot chilies (pounded to a paste)
- 1l boilling water
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 300g cooked prawns
- 3 Large ripe plantains (cut in slices)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- oil for frying
Directions
1. | If you are using fresh black-eyed peas, wash and pick over the black-eyed peas, then place in a pot, cover with plenty of water and boil for 2 minutes |
2. | Remove from the heat and set aside for 90 minutes to soak then return to heat (use the same water), bring to a boil , reduce to a simmer and cook, covered for about 2 hours. If using frozen beans (like I did), follow the instructions on the package to thaw and cook them. |
3. | Add the onion, tomato, chilies to the beans and cook uncovered for 15 minutes. |
4. | Add the tomato puree, oil and the prawns. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. |
5. | Remove the cover and continue cooking for 5 minutes or until the mixture is quite dry |
6. | Sprinkle the plantains with sea salt then deep fry in the oil until golden brown |
7. | Drain on absorbent paper. Serve the black-eyed pea stew with the fried plantains. |
Dunori says
I usually make it Ghana style: red-red and kelewele.