If there’s any food I do not like, it’s beans. As much as it gives me gas, I do understand it’s health benefits and that’s why I try to make it as much as possible.

Ewa is known as beans in the Yoruba language and apparently Ewa Agoyin is a traditional Yoruba meal; which I first had on my first visit to Lagos. I was hungry and I decided to join some family members to eat some beans. At first, looking at the beans, it was mashed and a little sweet; then over it was this dark red sauce; which when you ate it with the mashed beans was amazing! I came to find out that the sweetness of the beans was due to the nature of the beans. It was honey beans; which is the best type of beans to pair with Aqoyin sauce. It’s soft and slightly sweet. One scoop into your mouth and you’re in heaven.

I wanted to make some beans and Agoyin sauce, but I wanted something different from the traditional, so I decided to add coconut to the bean mix. I like doing little twists to Nigerian traditional recipes, but it’s never something drastic and I have to tell you that with this recipe, I have no regrets. The beans comes out creamy and silky. And when paired with the Agoyin sauce, it’s oooh Amazing!

I can never forget my first visit to Lagos. I stayed three long months until I got home sick. I love Lagos as the center of excellence, but I cannot take the noise and the plenty people on the streets. Lagos is like New York city on steroids. I missed the hustle and bustle of my little city in Delta state. Lagos wahala was out of my comfort zone. It was too many people in one place at once. The thing tire me. Apart from that, the food was amazing and the people were very accepting. If you ever want to travel for food in Nigeria, Lagos should be your first stop!

Back to the recipe, the coconut milk is optional and I have to say the addition of a little of the already mashed beans into the stew mix was the greatest food invention ever. I can’t even begin to describe the feeling 🙂

I have tried to make the Agoyin sauce several times. With making the sauce, you have to be patient. The first time I made it, I burnt it. The second time I made it with my friend Remmy’s recipe, I was too tired to have it cook any further, so it didn’t get as dark. I finally made it by fusing Remmy’s and 9jafoodie’s recipe and I ended up winning.

Without further ado……

Ewa Agoyin and Agoyin Sauce(A little twist, a little coconut)

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

2 hours

Total time

2 hours 10 mins

 

Author: Nma

Serves: 6

Ingredients

for beans

• 2 cups of beans(honey or black eye peas)
• 1 can or 400ml coconut milk(optional)
• salt

for sauce

• 2 small bell peppers
• 1 large onion(thinly sliced)
• 12 fingers dried chili peppers(shombo)
• 1 cup palm oil
• 1 inch ginger(grated)
• 2tbsps crayfish powder
• 1tbsp cooked beans
• bouillon
• salt to taste

Instructions

for beans

1. Pour the beans into a pot and pour in some water jus above to the beans and bring to a rolling boil. Pour the beans into a sieve and rinse with some water. Pour in enough water to cook the beans(do not add any salt)... cook until the beans is almost soft,(always top up with water if the beans is not cooked through) add the coconut milk if using and cook with the beans, making sure to stir and mash with a ladle as you cook it. After the beans is soft and mashed, season with salt and set aside to pair with the sauce.

for agoyin sauce

1. blend the bell pepper and chili peppers. Pour through a fine mesh sieve. Heat up the oil then add the onion and fry until dark but not burnt. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir occasionally to keep it from burning. Once the sauce darkens and the oil floats to the top, add a tbsp. of the cooked mashed beans into sauce and stir. Pair with the mashed beans and some fried yam or plantains

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