Way back during my secondary school days in Badagry, we always had Ewa Agoyin with Soft Agege bread every Tuesday on the menu. I guess that was were my love for Ewa Agoyin began. The preparation was also something i had to learn unwillingly because back then, whenever we committed a "crime", we were usually sent to the kitchen as a form of punishment to Cook with the Egun Women who were the chief cooks in the school (Most of them were from neighboring countries but had blended into the Nigerian system so well, you could hardly tell.
"Ewa" means Beans in yoruba language while "Agoyin" is a term used to describe people from neighboring countries such as Benin republic "Cotonu" and Togo, who came into Nigeria to settle as far back as in the sixties hence the name Ewa Agoyin which simply means "Beans of the agoyin people". it's not uncommon to find "Agoyin" women carrying their iron pots on their heads hawking "Ewa Agoyin" on the streets of Lagos where they are mostly found. They made beans and sauce so sweet, that even those who don't eat out are unusually drawn to the dish after a taste.
Ewa agoyin is simply Mashed beans with palmoil based pepper sauce. The sauce (which is the "Koko"of the dish) is basically prepared with blended dry pepper, onion and palmoil and the combination of these results in a tasty sauce with a spicy, earthy taste.
On my street foodie waka recently, i came across Silifat an Ewa Agoyin hawker. After buying a large bowl of the dish, i asked her for the recipe and tips on making my Ewa agoyin taste like hers especially the sauce. She hesitated for a while but after much persuasion, she reluctantly give me the list of ingredients and the procedure as listed below.
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| ewa agoyin hawker |
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| ewa agoyin sauce |
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| Ewa "Beans"- Mashed |
Ingredients:::
• Black eyed beans
• Palmoil
• Ginger (just a little)
• Onion
• Salt to taste
• Salt to taste
Directions:::
Step 1: To prepare the beans, remove the chaff, rinse and cook the beans till it gets very soft before adding salt at the final stage of the cooking. Once it's soft mash it up in a pot with a wooden spoon.
Step 2: Soak the dry pepper for few hours or overnight till it regains moisture then blend it with a little ginger.
Step 3: Slice the onion (you can also blend the onion with the pepper and ginger if you don't like seeing chunks of it in your food) and set aside
Step 4: Heat up the palm oil till it loosens up a little and gets very hot (Do not bleach)
Step 5: Gently add the onions, stir and leave to fry for sometime till it burns a little and gets dark.
Step 6: Pour your pepper blend into the hot oil, add salt and leave to fry for a while till the oil separates from the ground pepper and it has a sandy grainy like feel.
Dish out the beans and pour the sauce over the top of it. Serve with Boiled yam, fried plantain, Garri or better still Agege bread.
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| ewa agoyin and Agege bread hawker |
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cant wait to give this a try boy i havent tasted this in over 20 years
ReplyDeleteDo keep me posted ms cookie ;)
DeleteHi Dobby! So how i stumbled upon your great blog was through pinterest as i was searching african food blogs! I am soo glad I found you and you have amazing recipes. Cant wait to try some. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Sophie. i'm certain you'd find lots of exciting posts on this site. Do stick around :)
DeleteHi Dobby concerning the sauce,can I use dry grind pepper mixed with water. Thanks
ReplyDeleteNo you can't. The results would be totally different.
DeleteI asked a woman from Benin republic how the make the sauce. She said there are people who specially sell the 'raw material', that it is the white seed inside the long chilli pepper (Shombo) that is grinded into powder. It is this powder that is used to make the sauce.
ReplyDeletei've noticed that most times the sellers of this dish are often reluctant to give out the "Authentic recipe". it's either they tell half truths by skipping some ingredients or they mislead one entirely. But after watching and asking some "Generous" sellers, i've noticed the ingredients are quite the same.
Deleteilola, the Benin lady was right. Back in Togo, the ground shombo seeds are the authentic ingredients (I have some in my freezer at the moment, yay :) ), However in Lagos, it is a lot harder to find, so the ewa agoyin sellers use a suitable and readily available alternative which is the recipe Dobby was given. All is well that ends well! BTW, I am half agoyin, half Yoruba.
DeleteChioma ihieri aka Chyqueen
ReplyDeleteit looks really nice n simple, i will try it out n tell u hw it comes out.
Thanks Chyqueen, do keep us posted :)
DeleteI'M a die-harder lover of ewa agoyin. I have difficulty making the sauce. It just doesn't turn out right. Would follow your tips
ReplyDeleteDo let us know how it goes k :)
DeleteDobby! You're always on point. You're helping to also save marriages with your blog. Ive become an addict.
ReplyDeleteGlad you found the blog useful Anon :) *Hugs*
Deletethanks for revealing this secret.
ReplyDeleteyou're welcome Onyi.
DeleteDearie, I v been so excited since I discovered ur blog, pls I wnt to know if what u mean by removing d chaff is by peeling d back off? Pls I really want to understand better.Nky
ReplyDeleteHi Nky, What i meant by the chaff is the Husk (or hull) which is the outer shell or coating of a seed (Usually yellow when dry).
Deletepls if the salt is added to the beans at the initial stage wont it harden it..i.e making it not to be cooked properly.. I thought salt is added to it when is done..pls explain for better understanding.. Tanx.
ReplyDeletepls if the salt is added to the beans at the initial stage wont it harden it..i.e making it not to be cooked properly.. I thought salt is added to it when is done..pls explain for better understanding.. Tanx.
ReplyDeleteif salt is added at the initial stage, it'd harden the beans. Cook the beans till it gets soft without salt. Once it gets very soft, you can now add the salt to taste.
DeleteBeninese add black pepper to the sauce
ReplyDeletethanks for the contribution Anon.
DeleteTrying this rite now
ReplyDeleteDo keep us posted Lufizz
DeleteHi dobby! If I use a pressure pot to cook the beans would I get the same result?
ReplyDeleteHi Dobby! If I use a pressure pot to cook the beans would I get the same result?
ReplyDeleteYes you will
DeleteHello Dobby. I'm so happy to have found this!!! OMG that's literally the only way I eat my beans but since I moved from lagos to Benin, you can never see it here. My question is, what's the local name of the pepper cause I'm confused. Want to try it tomorrow, if you cann assist with a picture, I'll be grateful. Nancy
ReplyDeleteHi Nancy, the main ingredient used for this is the ground seeds of chili pepper. This can be hard to find in large quantity hence the use of the above ingredients.
DeleteWhaO! this is a wonderful site. i commend your effort
ReplyDeleteThanks Unknown :)
DeleteI notice u didn't add seasoning to the sauce
ReplyDelete