Ndambe

Ingredients

• 300g dried cowpeas or black-eyed beans
• 1 bay leaf
• 60ml groundnut oil
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 scotch bonnet pepper
• 1 stock cube
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 baguettes
• 1 lime

Before you cook

• Soak the cowpeas in cold water overnight, then drain them.
• Slice the onions thinly and mince the garlic.
• Cut the baguettes into four lengths and split each one along the side.

Steps

1. Put the drained beans and the bay leaf in a pot and cover them with 1.2 litres of cold water.
2. Bring the pot to the boil, then simmer for 45 minutes until a bean crushes easily between your fingers.
3. Drain the beans and keep 300ml of the cooking liquid.
4. Heat the groundnut oil in a wide pan over medium heat.
5. Fry the sliced onions for 10 minutes, until soft and just starting to brown.
6. Stir in the garlic and cook it for 1 minute.
7. Add the tomato purée and fry it for 3 minutes, until it darkens to brick red.
8. Tip in the beans, the reserved cooking liquid, the black pepper, the whole scotch bonnet and the crumbled stock cube.
9. Simmer for 15 minutes, crushing about a third of the beans against the side of the pan as you stir.
10. Season with the salt and lift out the scotch bonnet.
11. Spoon the hot ndambe into the split baguettes.
12. Squeeze lime over the filling and press each sandwich shut.