See, I am gaining momentum small by small, back to what i do best, blogging. A reader left a comment on my last post which jolted me to reality. Dooney’s Kitchen is the blog, not Instagram. More people have access to the internet than Instagram, so I will have to find a way to balance both, because one cannot ignore the power of social media. I have now managed to make what i call small change, thanks to the marketing power of Instagram. Ofada Riro is a dish I make regularly but just never blogged about it, because it is a last-minute throw in vegetables and serve with rice any time I have left over Ayamase that is so small, it won’t be enough for a meal, so i use vegetables to bulk it up and voila increase in quantity.
If you remember one of my posts from a few weeks ago, i talked about how you can food-cycle a dish by either adding fresh pepper or fresh vegetables. Ofada Riro is the poster child for food cycle. To blog about this dish, I decided to make it a little extra special. Usually I add a bland tasting veg like Ugu or Spinach to the pot and call it a day, but this time I decided to give it a little oomph, with Uziza. Uziza leaves makes any dish special. Its aroma is so inviting and it dances on your taste buds. The next time you make ayamase, deliberately save some for this dish and move away from the traditional rice and dodo pairing my having this with a soup staple. Recipe for my ayamase (ofada stew) can be found HERE.
I am killing two birds with one stone with this post. Introducing a new soup staple which i have aptly termed Tuwo Beans. If you have a more snazzy term for it, please drop a comment. My friend Kemi and I came across a discovery with beans a while ago, which i won’t share because of its commercial value. In refining our discovery, i started experimenting with different cooking methods and this was the last one i tried. It was surprising to say the least. I looooved the aroma, loooooved the texture too, it was springy like amala, and the taste, trust me, the beans flavour isn’t as strong as you would expect. Beans contain more carbs than protein, but guess what, the carbs in beans are like the ones in Oats. They have a lower glycemic index compared with high starch compounds like rice, yam and even wheat. So, go get that beans flour and make yourself some Tuwo would you. I have put the steps on the post below, but here’s a video of me making Tuwo Beans at the latter stages. Remember to follow @dooneyskitchen on Instagram
This soup staple goes especially well with this Ofada Riro because rice, beans and dodo is a common pairing with Ofada stew, so this will feel quite familiar, more-ish and wholesome.
Let’s Cook
- Ofada stew
- Spinach - or your choice of greens
- Uziza leaves
- Freshly chopped pepper - optional
- Softened or cooked smoked fish - optional
- Salt
- For the Tuwo Beans -
- Beans Flour
- Water
- Place the leftover ofada stew in a pan to heat up.
- While the sauce is heating up, chop your veggies and fresh pepper, set aside.
- As the sauce heats up, add a little water, about half a cup, jut to add a little fluidty to the sauce, to allow you stir in the veggies easily. You can choose to add smoked fish at this point for extra flavour, but as my ofada stew is already cooked with shredded smoked fish, there was no need to
- Add the vegetables, the spinach and uziza at the same time, stir and allow to wilt to your preference.
- Give another 3 minutes or so, re-season with a little salt and serve.
- For the tuwo beans, xombine beans flour with water to double its volume. Stir and ensure that it is free from lumps, pour into a pot and place on heat
- Stir as soon as you've emptied the bowl into the pot. as the liquid heats up, lumps begin to form, continue stirring to ensure that these lumps don't clump together
- Keep stirring until it thickens, and stir some more to work the dough a little, making it even more springy. By the time it cooks, the flavour of the beans has drastically reduced, giving a pleasant almost sweet taste. You will love this, I promise
This is the soup for you if you are a busy mum, wife or even single person. 3 steps, in 15minutes, you have a new dish that you can finish, wash the pot and call it a day.
lovely
Hi Dunni,
This is really nice. But please is the bean flour the same one that’s used for making akara, the store bought ones? Thank you.
Yes, that one
U inspire d cook in me Doony. Pls how can I make my beans flour. Can I buy dry beans pick it n mill it? And store it too?
buy dry beans flour. cheaper and quicker
thanks Dunni..would try it…Bae already likes the idea
Ok. So i took a hand mixer to it and its turned out right. All bouncy and springy. But too light for me. So i added some poundo flour and cooked and its turned out perfect. Hubby is diabetic and we are always looking for healthy alternatives. Thanks for this. I now have to source beans flour in larger, cheaper quantities as its quite expensive here in london.
Hi Dunni,
This Tuwo beans remind me of my native food, “Odon” (from Benin Republic, Porto Novo, Adjara), the difference is the addition of spices and palm oil, the taste is divine. its not popular but the sister “Amiwo” (corn flour + chicken stock +tomatoes, pepper and onion serve with plenty chewable and sauce) is very popular.
am so trying this, thanks alot for expanding my food adventure diary.
tell me more about Odon and Amiwo too. I am veeeery interested