Nutritious? Yes! Delicious? Yes Yes!! Easy to cook? Yes Yes Yes!!!
Black-eyed peas need no introduction. Beans are one of the most commonly eaten foods in Nigeria. Because they provide a readily available and affordable source of protein. Blackeyed beans are popularly known as iron beans and are more expensive than other varieties of beans.
The term ‘Iron beans’ can be quite misleading! For the longest time, I avoided buying and cooking iron beans because I always thought they would be very strong. And possibly take forever to get done. So I would always cook with other varieties of beans especially honey beans.
One day I ran out of honey beans and the only available beans were the dreaded iron beans. I had no choice but to cook with it. Because I thought the beans would take a long time to get soft, I cooked them in my pressure cooker for 30 minutes. To my utmost dismay and surprise, the beans had turned to mush after 30 minutes in the pressure cooker.
The next time, I cooked them for less time and to my surprise the beans were perfect. Soft and tender just like baked beans, plump, and delicious. They were so tender that they were melting in my mouth. Since that day I haven’t cooked porridge with any other beans again.
If you having a hard time getting the little ones to eat beans porridge then you have to try this recipe.
Beans Porridge is great for growing kids
As a mother to little children, I have had to experiment with different beans porridge recipes to create one that the whole family would enjoy and have the kids coming back for more. Now this beans porridge is one of the favorite meals in my home. During the lockdown, my stock of beans was the first to finish, because the kids requested beans porridge almost every single day.
This recipe is easy to follow and in less than two hours your food would be ready. In order to get kids more interested in eating beans porridge, try adding onion rings towards the end of cooking. Kids would love the crunchiness of the onions.
Recipe Notes:
If you are wary of cooking with black-eyed peas because of its flatulence causing properties then soak it overnight before cooking. Pre-soaking has been found to reduce both gas-forming compounds and the anti-nutrients present in beans. It also shortens the cooking time too.
There have been some concerns regarding the chemicals used in preserving dried beans. So I suggest you make sure to always rinse the beans several times with fresh water before and after soaking to reduce whatever chemical has been sprayed on it.
Nigerian Bean Porridge
Servings
3servings
Prep time
25minutes
Cooking time
45minutes
Calorieskcal
Total time
1hour
10minutes
INGREDIENTS
- 1 milk cup of Black eyed peas (Iron beans)
- 1 cooking spoon Palmoil
- 1 medium red onion
- 1 stalk fresh or dried curry leaf
- 1 piece red atarodo
- 1 tablespoon Crayfish
- Salt to taste
- Seasoning cubes (optional)
DIRECTIONS
- Rinse beans twice with water
- Add enough water to cover the beans and leave to soak overnight. This is optional you can skip this step and proceed to step 3
- Add just enough water to cover the top of the beans. Add salt and boil till soft. Be careful not to add too much water.
- As the beans is boiling, pour palm oil into a dry saucepan and fry sliced onions and curry leaves for 2 minutes
- Add pepper, and crayfish and fry for an additional 2 minutes
- When the beans is soft, transfer the fried sauce to the beans and allow the porridge to cook for 10 minutes.
- Adjust seasoning as required and leave to simmer till it reaches the desired consistency
NOTES
- Soaking the beans overnight is not necessary but it can shorten cooking time and even improve the flavor of the beans.
