How to Cook Beans and Plantain Porridge (Beans and Plantain Pottage) Recipe

Beans and plantain porridge recipe is a hearty and nutritious staple in many parts of Africa, this beans and plantain porridge also remains the number one special food in Nigeria, the beans when cooked singly as porridge beans can be served with pap, custard or oatmeal. Beans and plantain recipe is indeed a very especial and unique combo which can be served as a main dish for both vegan and non-vegan. Generally, the beans can be prepared singly without plantain as in the case of beans porridge; on the other hand, the plantains can be prepared alone without beans being added as well. Even though I’m not really a fan of beans meal, I eat beans occasionally, and whenever I want cook my beans dish, I make sure I add some tomatoes and curry into it. Tomatoes and curry are good alternatives to palm oil, in case you don’t like palm oil in your beans dishes, you can use some fresh tomatoes (or tomato paste), curry, red bell pepper or paprika to create that radiant red colour.

Beans and plantain porridge can be cooked in different ways, but this depends on individual taste and preference; this recipe can be prepared with palm oil or without palm oil. Some people may choose to use black-eyed beans or honey beans, while others could use brown beans to prepare this delicious staple. In this article, I decided to use the red kidney beans for this beans and plantain recipe; however, you can use any type of beans for your beans and plantain porridge. Whichever type of beans you use for your beans and plantain porridge, it will also come out fine as well, it all depends on what you want.

Even though beans and plantain porridge is usually assumed to be a cheap and easy food that is cooked within few minutes, on my own side I don’t always see this food like the way others do. There are ways to prepare your beans and plantain porridge and make it deliciously irresistible to others, both in appearance and in taste; a little addition of spices and vegetables can indeed take this unique combo to another new and fantastic level. Many people usually add dried fish to their beans recipe and I recommend that too because the fish adds additional flavour and taste to the beans dish. You can blend some beef or chicken into your beans and plantain porridge to attract your kids who do not really like beans; this is another healthy version of beans and plantain porridge which I will recommend.

Beans and plantain porridge, even though it is naturally sweet without much ingredients, you still need to season it with some healthy ingredients like crayfish, fish, thyme, curry and better still cooked in chicken or beef broth for a better flavour. Sometimes I just feel my meals are not yet complete without adding some colourful and crunchy vegetables like carrots, green peas, and bell peppers or maybe with a splash of greenish leaves like cilantro or parsley which are known to be very healthy and scenting.

In addition, when preparing your beans and plantain porridge, you may choose to use the canned tomato paste or simply use some fresh tomatoes for reddening; this is for those who do not like palm oil in their beans porridge. I just added very little to mine because I love the taste of palm oil, but can you replace palm oil with olive oil, vegetable oil, paprika, curry or with red tomatoes.

However, the fastest way to cook any beans dish is to soak the beans beforehand in cool water to hasten the cooking time and to prevent bloating or any allergy; If you soak your beans for hours before cooking them, you will only have to cook it for 45 minutes or at most for an hour. When beans are soaked for that long, they tend to absorb water and double their actual sizes making it easy to cook in time. You can use canned beans in place of dried beans if you dont have the patience to cook the beans for that long.

Ingredients for cooking beans and plantain porridge

1. 2 cups of red kidney beans (250ml)
2. 5 pieces of sweet plantain/unripe plantain
3. 500g of dried fish or fried chicken
4. 6 Red bell peppers and green bell peppers(3 each)
5. 4 green chilli peppers or ground pepper
6. 1/3 cup of green peas, optional
7. 4 ripe tomatoes
8. I medium onion
9. 1 teaspoon of curry
10. 1 teaspoon of thyme
11. 2 tablespoons of ground crayfish
12. 1 cup of chicken broth, optional
13. 1 big spoon of palm oil, optional
14. 3 sticks of celery or parsley
15. 2 cloves of garlic, minced
16. Seasoning cubes and salt to taste

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Procedures for preparing beans and plantain porridge

1. Soak your beans in cold water for 5 hours or overnight.
2. Rinse the beans and place in a pot and cook for 30 minutes.
3. Peel the plantains and dice into medium sizes and rinse with water
4. When the beans is almost cooked, bring the plantain into it and cook until soft.
5. Add chicken broth, beef stock or more water to the beans and plantain to cook properly.
6. Season the beans and plantain porridge with, crayfish, 2 seasoning cubes, curry, thyme, salt and some onions and stir to incorporate.
7. Leave the porridge to cook on a medium-low heat to absorb all the ingredients, while you chop carrots, bell peppers, onions and the tomatoes. You can add either dried fish or fresh fish to the porridge if you have any. I didnt used fish, but fried chicken.
8. At this point, decide whether you want to add palm oil to your beans and plantain porridge then do so right away.
9. Heat a pan on another stove, add 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil, add in garlic, onions and fry for 30 seconds, after that, add the diced tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Also, add the bell peppers, carrots, green peas, season the content with salt and cook these for 10 minutes on a medium heat.
10. Once the liquid has reduced from the porridge, bring the vegetable into the porridge beans and stir to incorporate, and then cook it for 5 minutes.
11. Put off heat and serve your beans and plantain porridge with chicken or fish.

Source – http://www.jotscroll.com/

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