Ewa Agoyin

Ingredients

• 500g dried honey beans or black-eyed beans
• 1.5 litres water
• 1 tsp salt
• 100g dried red chillies, stems removed
• 2 dried red bell peppers
• 3 large onions
• 250ml red palm oil
• 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp ground dried crayfish
• 2 stock cubes
• 4 Agege bread rolls or soft white rolls, to serve

Before you cook

• Pick over the beans for stones and rinse them under cold water.
• Cover the dried chillies and dried bell peppers with cold water and leave them to soften overnight.
• Slice two of the onions thinly and roughly chop the third.
• Grate the ginger.

Steps

1. Tip the beans into a large pot and cover them with 1.5 litres of cold water.
2. Bring the pot to the boil over high heat and skim off the grey foam.
3. Turn the heat down and simmer the beans, half covered, for 2 hours until they slump when pressed against the side of the pot.
4. Stir in the salt and mash the beans roughly with a wooden spoon, leaving some of them whole.
5. Take the beans off the heat and cover the pot to keep them warm.
6. Drain the soaked chillies and blend them with the roughly chopped onion, the ginger and 60ml of water to a coarse paste.
7. Pour the palm oil into a heavy pan and heat it over medium heat for 5 minutes until it thins.
8. Add the sliced onions and fry them for 15 minutes, stirring often, until they collapse and turn deep brown.
9. Stir in the blended pepper paste and turn the heat down low.
10. Cook the sauce for 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until it darkens almost to black and the oil rises clear on top.
11. Stir in the crayfish and the crumbled stock cubes and cook for a final 5 minutes.
12. Spoon the warm mashed beans into bowls and ladle the hot sauce over the top.
13. Serve with torn Agege bread for scooping.