Ewa agoyin plate of mashed beans with diced fried plantain and red palm oil stew on a wooden counter
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3 from 2 votes

Spicy Ewa Agoyin Recipe

When cooking the Ewa Agoyin, make the accompanying spicy sauce. It gives the dish its trademark fiery kick.
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time2 hrs 30 mins
Total Time2 hrs 50 mins
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: West African
Keyword: Ewa Agoyin
Appliance: Potato Masher, Grinder, Frying Pan
Author: Paromita Datta

Ingredients

For the beans

  • 4 cups Nigerian honey beans/brown beans/black-eyed peas
  • 1 large onion
  • 8 cups water or more

For the sauce

  • 4 tbsp bleached red palm oil or sunflower oil
  • 2 red bell peppers dried
  • 12-14 dried chilies
  • 2 tsp Cameroon/Ghana pepper
  • 1 tsp ginger paste
  • 1 scotch bonnet pepper or
  • 2 birds eye chili
  • 1/4 cup dried crayfish powdered
  • 1 stock cube
  • salt to taste
  • 1 large onion sliced thin

Instructions

  • Clean and soak the beans overnight. Wash them again and cook them in water. Cook the beans till they turn very soft. This will take about 2 to 2 and 1/2 hours. 
  • The water will evaporate as the beans cook. Add water if you need to, but not too much. When the beans are completely cooked, you should have just about half a cup at the bottom. 
  • Take the pot off the heat and mash the beans with a potato masher or a fork. You can add salt at this stage. The beans will soak up all the cooking water and you should have a pulpy mashed texture. 
  • To make the sauce you will need to rehydrate the dried peppers. For this soak the dried peppers and chilies for about an hour to rehydrate them and then grind them in a blender with a little water. Add the scotch bonnet peppers or bird's eye chili and grind again. 
  • Heat the oil in a pan. Add the sliced onion and fry till they are browned. Take care that they do not burn. 
  • Add the chili paste to the onions and keep cooking, stirring the sauce constantly. Slowly, the water will evaporate and the color will deepen to a deep red. 
  • At this stage, add the stock cube, crayfish, Cameroon/Ghana pepper and salt to taste. Let these sauce simmer further for a few minutes to develop all the flavors. Your sauce is ready now.
  • To serve, plate the mashed beans and top it with the spicy sauce. 

Notes

  • You can make the beans and the sauce simultaneously to save time. Make the sauce as the beans finish cooking.
  • This is a very spicy sauce. You can add tomato to reduce the hotness factor. You can also reduce the number of chilies
  • Do not reduce the amount of oil or add water when cooking the sauce. 
  • You can serve this stew with a chunk of bread.