Give Nigerian black-eyed pea stew a try

Justine Esan brought a piece of Nigeria to the Parkdale Food Centre this week.

The Parkdale Food Centre has been asking their immigrant clients to showcase foods from their homelands, especially those that are a good fit for the new Canada Food Guide.

One of those recipes is ewa, a traditional Nigerian black-eyed pea dish brought to the centre by Esan who is originally from Nigeria.

CBC Radio's All In A Day host Alan Neal visited the centre on Tuesday and joined Esan to learn more about the dish.

Nigerian Black Eyed Peas or Ewa

• 4 cups black eyed peas.
• 1/4 cups chopped onion.
• 1/2 cup red pepper.
• 1 cup chopped tomato.
• 2 cups chopped kale (any leafy green will do).
• 3 tbsp palm oil.
• 2 tbsp dried ground mackerel.
• 2 tbsp curry powder salt to taste.
• 1/4 lb fish or shrimp.

Assembly

1. Rinse beans thoroughly, then bring to a boil in a pot with enough water to cover. Occasionally you will need to add water as the beans will absorb the cooking liquid as they soften, cook to desired tenderness.
2. Peel onions and wash peppers, tomatoes and kale.
3. Roughly chop onions and peppers. Pulse in a blender until smooth (you can add a little water if you need to). Dice tomato and shred kale.
4. Over a medium/high heat add your palm oil. Once the oil heats up, add the tomato, pepper and onion. Cook until soft, for about 5 minutes.
5. Once cooked stir in curry powder and dried mackerel and salt. Add cooked beans and fish and stir to incorporate. Let cook for 10 minutes on a low heat. To finish, add chopped kale  and let cook for a minute.  Add salt to taste.