Wednesday 20 February 2013

EFO RIRO

This is my vegan version of a Yoruba classic: efo riro. This rich spinach stew is great with rice, pounded yam, eba and other starches. I like to make a large batch of this and keep in the fridge to last me the week.

Ingredients
- 5 large bunches fresh spinach (roughly chopped)
- 3 red bell peppers
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper
- 1 medium sized onion
- 4 fresh tomatoes
- 2 tbsp palm oil or coconut oil
- 1 tsp iru (fermented locust beans)
- 2 vegetable stock cubes
- Salt to taste

for eba:
- 3 cups garri
- 6 cups hot boiling water

I make it extra soupy sometimes :p
Blend the peppers, tomatoes and onion in a food processor to form a smooth mixture.

Heat the oil in a pot and add the pepper mixture, disolve the stock cubes into the sauce and bring to a boil.

Add the chopped spinach and iru (fermented locust beans) after 10 minutes then turn the heat down. Season with salt. Simmer for another 5 minutes and you're good to go.

To make eba, add the boiling water to a heat-resistant bowl. Sprinkle the garri over the top whilst mixing quickly with a wooden spoon, until it comes together and is smooth.

9 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. You can skip out on it, but it does add a great flavour to the finished dish.

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  2. Replies
    1. Depends on where you're based. If you're in London, African food stores near Brixton market or Dalston or Peckham (to name a few) will stock it :)

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  3. Where can I buy the iru at?

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  4. How many grams of spinach is 5 bunches?

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  5. yummy! how many averagely hungry peeps would this recipe serve?

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