For this entry, I have collaborated with Wandoo Ityavyar of VegansOfNigeria to bring two Nigerian-inspired dishes to you (well….their recipes).
My inspiration for deciding to have this theme was that, unfortunately, I am not particularly in touch with my Nigerian culture, especially as I do not live in Nigeria. I am not much of a fan of Nigerian foods, to be honest, but I am a fan of foods inspired by Nigerian dishes. Maybe it’s because I don’t like the taste of meats (or that I am just a “picky eater”).
Wandoo and I both do not eat meats and we both happen to be Nigerian so, we are bringing to you our take on vegan versions of Jollof Rice and Groundnut/Peanut Soup, respectively.
Let us know if you try our recipes and don’t forget to check out Wandoo @VegansOfNigeria on Instagram!
Bon Appétit!
Wild Rice Meets Jollof Rice
Ingredients
Cajun Sauce
- Few cloves of garlic
- Fresh ginger
- Lots of red onions
- Red peppers
- Haberno
- Tomatoes
- Bay leaves
- Vegetable bouillon cubes
- Curry
- Thyme
Tomato/Pepper Sauce
- Some freshly cut up tomatoes
- Fresh basil
- Chopped red onions
- Haberno (if you can stand the heat)
- Italian herbs
- Sea salt
- Onion powder
- Organic extra virgin olive oil or water (for frying)
- 2 cups wild rice
- 2 cups long grain rice
Cajun Sauce
- Boil just the vegetables and the bay leaves for about an hour. Then let set them aside to cool.
- After the vegetables have cooled off blend them up. (In Wandoo’s words, “Don’t blend the bay leaves oh. Mogbe”).
- Add the spices and let simmer for a few minutes.
- Set aside.
- Add some oil to a wok. Followed by the onions and then the tomatoes and habanero (if using).
- Add the basil and fry the sauce till the tomatoes wilt.
- Add spices.
- Set aside.
Rice
- Cook wild rice and long grain rice separately according to their package instructions.
- Mix all the rice and sauces together in a lasagna type dish/Pyrex dish.
- Cover with foil paper and bake in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit (about 200 degrees celsius) for 30 minutes.
- Serve (In Wandoo’s words, “Then go and be great. You are welcome” 🙂 )
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 1/2 a red/purple onion, chopped
- 0.5cm finely chopped fresh ginger
- 3 finely chopped garlic cloves
- 2.5 handfuls of spring greens cut into strips
- 2-3 heaped tablespoons of unsalted smooth peanut butter
- 1 heaped teaspoon of tomato purée
- 1 tomato, chopped
- Dried mushrooms (equivalent of 4 whole closed-cup mushrooms)
- Ground African yellow pepper/hot chilli powder
- Black pepper
- Thyme
- Rosemary
- Sea salt
- Using a bit of water in place of oil, cook the onions, garlic, ginger and tomato in a saucepan/pot.
- Pour the vegetable stock into the saucepan and let it boil stirring to ensure that the tomato-onion mixture does not stick to the bottom of the saucepan.
- Add the peanut butter to the contents of the saucepan and stir continuously until the sauce starts to thicken up a bit.
- Add in the tomato purée, dried mushrooms and spring greens (no need to remove the stems) and let the saucepan sit on a medium heat till the spring greens have softened up.
- Next, add the spices according to taste and let the soup/sauce heat up for a minute or two longer.
- Serve over rice (with some plantain on the side) or, if you want to go all-out Nigerian, serve with pounded yam, eba, amala, fufu…..
LickYourPlates 