Banku with Grilled Tilapia and Shito

Ingredients

• 450g fermented corn dough
• 150g cassava dough
• 1 tsp salt
• 700ml water
• 2 whole tilapia, about 450g each, gutted and scaled
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2cm piece fresh ginger
• 1/2 onion
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 1 tsp bouillon powder
• 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 150ml groundnut oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2cm piece fresh ginger, grated
• 3 tbsp tomato purée
• 4 tbsp ground dried chilli
• 3 tbsp ground dried shrimp
• 2 tbsp smoked fish powder
• 1/2 tsp salt for the shito

Before you cook

• Slash each tilapia three times on both sides, down to the bone.
• Blend the 3 garlic cloves, the 2cm ginger, the half onion, the parsley, white pepper, bouillon powder and the juice of half the lemon into a marinade.
• Rub the marinade deep into the slashes and refrigerate the fish for 30 minutes.
• Whisk the corn dough and cassava dough with 400ml of the water until the slurry is smooth.

Steps

1. Warm the groundnut oil in a heavy pan over medium heat and fry the diced onion for 5 minutes.
2. Add the minced garlic and grated ginger and cook them for 2 minutes until fragrant.
3. Stir in the tomato purée and cook it out for 3 minutes.
4. Add the ground dried chilli and turn the heat down low.
5. Cook the shito for 20 minutes, stirring almost constantly, until it turns from red to near-black.
6. Stir in the dried shrimp, smoked fish powder and the half teaspoon of salt, and cook for 10 minutes more.
7. Set the shito aside off the heat to cool and thicken.
8. Pour the dough slurry into a heavy pot and set it over medium heat.
9. Stir constantly with a strong wooden spatula for 10 minutes as the dough thickens and stiffens.
10. Add the teaspoon of salt and work in the remaining 300ml of water a splash at a time, pressing each one against the side of the pot.
11. Keep beating and folding for 12 minutes, until the banku is smooth, glossy and pulls away cleanly from the pot.
12. Cover the pot, drop the heat to low, and steam the banku for 5 minutes.
13. Heat a griddle or barbecue until it is very hot and brush the fish all over with the vegetable oil.
14. Lay the tilapia down and leave it undisturbed for 6 minutes, until the skin releases freely.
15. Turn the fish and grill the second side for 6 minutes, until the flesh at the backbone is opaque.
16. Scoop the banku into a wet bowl and swirl it into a smooth ball.
17. Serve each ball with a tilapia, a spoon of shito and a wedge of the remaining lemon.