Monday, March 10, 2008

Ghanaian One Pot Curry

or stew. I will already tell you this "recipe" is a gem; quick, healthy, and you would have to try real hard to screw up.

I came across this while researching a couple from BBC America's Last Restaurant Standing (it broadcasted last year as The Restaurant on regular BBC) who cook Ghanaian food.

I stumbled upon a volunteer's site about traditional Ghana culture and food.

And there was the Universal Method for cooking one-pot stews and curries.
It gives very easy instructions and some example recipes.



I have done this twice in the past week, using up veggies and adding different liquids. Mine turned out more Indian, as I used Indian spices and curry paste for the base. (And MaMa Ronin proclaims it's better than our yummy Indian restaurant's!)

The picture above is made with onions, garlic, spices, veg bratwurst, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, broccoli, & peas.

The picture at the end is made with onions, garlic, spices, veg bratwurst, tomatoes, potatoes, spinach, mushrooms & peas.

You will need:
A big pot
Any veggies you have!
Spices (such as garlic, cumin, paprika, etc) or something like curry paste
Fake meat or tofu (opt)
Liquid (opt) (like water, broth, coconut milk, etc)

Start chopping your onion while the oil is heating. While that sautees, start chopping the next batch to go in, while that sautees, start with the next batch, etc. No time is wasted, it's great.


-I started with a little oil on low/med heat, chopped onion and garlic, spices (I used a couple of spoonfuls of curry paste). Sautee.

-Add the "meat category" & sautee. I used chopped Tofurky's Bratwurst.

-I add chopped potatoes now too to soak up some of those lovely spices. I also add chunks of tomatoes so they can start to simmer and stew. (Now would be the time to add the rest of your "Class B" food like beans, carrots, broccoli, eggplant, etc.). Sautee just a minute or two for the spices to start to coat and absorb.


(Shown: 1 onion, 2 med potatoes, 2 tomatoes, 2 garlic cloves, 1 brat)


-Add your liquid now if you choose. Try to add just enough to cover the potatoes. From here on out the pictures are with coconut milk. In the picture at the top I used water to finish as a stew. Or add a little and have the potatoes steam to have more of a dry curry.

-Simmer about 10 minutes (more or less depending on your chunks) or until potatoes are done.

-At the end of the cooking time add the veggies in "Class B" that cook quickly, such as frozen peas and mushrooms. I would stir in spinach right before serving.


Isn't that color amazing!?


It takes around 20 minutes from start to finish. That's just about the same time it takes to cook some rice to go along with it! I used Basmati rice cooked with saffron threads.




Full of veggies and flavor, you can't go wrong!

2 comments:

Andréa said...

Wow. It really looks delicious.

palmcop said...

A great deal of effective information for me!