Ghanaians enjoy a wide variety of meats and fish both fresh water and marine, and so tend to have more than one type in a dish. In Kontomire stew for instance, you could have beef, wele (cow skin), oysters and smoked tuna. For this recipe, chose to use just chicken. I don't think chicken mixes very well with other meats so I just use it on its own.
Ingredients I used are:
2 pounds chicken
1 pound washed chopped Kontomire leaves. (about GH¢0.50 worth)
1 1/2 cup ground Agushi (melon seed)
1 cup Palm oil
2 medium sized onions
1/2 onion (blended smooth)
10 - 12 medium sized tomatoes
15 - 20 kpakpo shito (green peppers)
1 tuber of yam
Maggi cube
salt
Start by removing the chicken skin, cutting it into desired sizes and washing it thoroughly.
Spice the chicken with 1/2 a blended onion, 1 maggi cube, some salt and black pepper. mix it all in and steam the chicken, just until it turns white and produces stock.
Chop the onions ...
... and blend the tomatoes together with the pepper.
Pour the Agushi into a bowl and add about 1/2 a teaspoon of salt to it,
then pour in enough water to cover it and leave it to soak.
The kontomire could be shredded from the stalks, boiled and mashed, or just chopped like i prefer.
Heat the palm oil in a pot and add onions. Fry until the onions are soft, then add the tomatoes and cover. Simmer it all down till it starts to fry. Stir it for about 3 minutes then add the chicken pieces. Fry a little more until it starts to stick.
Stir gently then add the kontomire.
Stir it in, add the stock and leave it to simmer
Add the soaked Agushi, stir it in gently and leave it to simmer. After a few minutes, the agushi starts to clump in the sauce. Stirring too much will break up the clumps, so either stir gently or lift the pot and 'shake' it to move this around.
Simmer it on a very low heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Only add extra salt after the stock and Agushi are in since they both contain salt.
Turn it off sooner if you reach your preferred thickness.
Peel the tuber of yam and cut into even pieces. Add enough water to cover all the yam, add some salt and boil. When a fork can pass through, it is ready. Pour off the excess water and serve with the knotomire stew.
Not bad, but I put in my Agushi before the Kontomire. It is actually the last thing i put in. I didn't taste it so I can't say much. Next time give me some and i can comment better.
ReplyDeleteI do that when my kontomire is already cooked, cos then, it doesn't need to cook much, just soak up the flavour for a few minutes. Here it needed to cook just as much as the agushi.
ReplyDeleteThank you Suporna
ReplyDeletehmmmmmmmm..... i'm drooling yummm . certainly need to attempt this although i will substitute the palm oil for olive oil
ReplyDeleteYes you definately can. I tend to use soya oil most times I make this. But the beauty of cooking is the ability to adjust to our own tastes. Let us know how yours turns out.
ReplyDeleteHow do I prevent the biting or itching taste of kontomire?
ReplyDeleteThat usually comes from the stalks or vines. If you are that sensitive, don't use the pre-cut Kontomire. Rip the stalks out of all the leaves carefully before cutting. I hope this helps.
Deleteit looks really tasty..i would like to know for how long the agushi has to be soaked.I didn't really get the part with the clumps,are the clumps supposed to remain?
ReplyDeletewill be grateful for any help...can'T wait to try cooking it
Not too long, soak it for about 15 - 20 minutes. It will swell a bit. Yes, you want the clumps in there, almost like scrambled eggs.
DeleteThank you for sharing your tips. Once again, I love the pics. I usually sub the agushi with eggs. But now that I know more about soaking it I will try it. Is it called "Akatoa" in twi?
ReplyDelete