We all have a role to play. Our national heroes fought for Independence for a reason: To give us the freedom to be who we wanted to be. To develop our own identity on our terms instead of just taking what had been handed to us.
Love for food as the ‘unrecognised’ unifying factor, common across our culture.
To celebrate Independence Day and the legacy of our founding fathers, we commissioned the kind people at Ekó Café to design a celebratory meal and they indulged by creating a delectable three course menu representative of the vibrant and favorable Nigerian favorites, some with sumptuous twists.
Our Independence Day Menu
Starter
Spicy suya style goat meat and plantain skewers
Mains
Shrimp, snapper and smoked fish okra with eba
Assorted meat jollof rice and peppered fish with plantain
Dessert
Puff puff with cinnamon sugar
Drinks
Zobo and pineapple cocktails
Spicy suya style goat meat and plantain skewers:
For our starter we tried to combine the engaging and playful nature of meat on a stick (suya) with a personal favorite ‘gizdodo’ and so our spicy skewer sticks were created.
For this you will need:
1/2 kilogram of beef (your choice)
Plantain
1 White onion
1 Rodo pepper (scotch bonnet)
2 Tomatoes (chopped)
Suya pepper
Skewer sticks
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Method:
Cut the beef into medium sized chunks and season with maggi, diced scotch bonnet pepper and thyme. Boil beef with onions under tender.
In a frying pan, fry lightly salted plantain pieces in vegetable oil. Sautee onions, tomatoes and peppers in a different frying pan, seasoning lightly to taste. Add the boiled beef chunks and fried plantain pieces. You’ve probably started tasting by now, careful! It’s hot.
Allow the content of the pan to cool and assemble the beef, plantain and onions on skewers. Dust with suya pepper and these are ready to eat!
Assorted meat jollof rice and peppered fish with plantain:
For our first main course option we have created party favourite, jollof rice with a slight twist!
For this meal you will need:
2 Canned / 10 fresh tomatoes
2 Rodo nobs
2 Tatases (long red peppers)
5 Cloves of garlic
1 Large onion
2 Bay leaves
1Teaspoon of dry thyme
4 Cups of rice
Tomato sauce:
Blend your ingredients and pour into a pot with vegetable oil and fried onions. Simmer for 12-15 minutes before adding seasoning, bay leaves, half a teaspoon of thyme and white pepper (optional).
Meat mix:
On a separate cooker, boil diced pieces of your favourite selection of meats. We’ve gone for shaki, beef, goat meat and kidney. Add to your broth maggi, thyme, onions, rodo and garlic cloves.
After your pepper sauce for the jollof rice has been cooking for 20 minutes or so add the meat mix and beef stock to it. Add another tablespoon of thyme. Allow to boil for a minute or two. We slice fresh tomatoes and onions into the mix now but this is largely optional.
Rice:
Depending on how many people you are cooking for and the saltiness of your broth, add salt to the mix as you would when boiling a regular pot of rice. Be careful as it is very different to get rid of excess salt. Add 4 cups of rice and enough water to cover (almost double over, this again depends on the type of rice you are cooking with). Stir the rice and sauce and leave covered to boil on medium heat for 10 minutes.
Time to taste!
We call it ‘Quality control’. Is your rice properly cooked? “No, it should not be crunchy.”. If it is, create a well in the middle and add a little water to steam you to the finish line. Add salt if necessary.
Peppered fish:
Take one gutted and scaled whole fish and rub on one maggi cube.
Blend one scotch bonnet pepper, garlic cloves and ginger and a touch of water. Marinate (in the fridge) for 3-4 hours. Grill for 5 minutes on each side.
Plate up and enjoy!
Shrimp, snapper and smoked fish okra with eba:
Our second option is for the more traditionally inclined.
For this spin on traditional okra, you’ll need:
1 Cup of chopped okro
1/2 Cup of shelled and deveined prawns
1 Whole tilapia
1 Scotch bonnet pepper
1 White onion
2 Tablespoons of palm oil
2 Maggi cubes
1 Tablespoon of shrimp paste (optional).
To your heated palm oil, add chopped onions and scotch bonnet pepper. Fry lightly and add seasoned tilapia pieces.
Add a cup of boiling water, shrimp paste and 2 maggi cubes.
Put in chopped okra in stages into stirring pot to control for thickness.
Add prawns and smoked fish.
Salt to taste.
Serve with eba.
Tuck in!
Puff puff with cinnamon sugar:
Easily the MVP of our menu, it’s Puff Puff time!
You’ll need:
500 Grams of self rising flour
2 Tablespoons of yeast
1 Cup of warm water
100-125 Grams of sugar
A pinch of salt
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir in warm water until batter falls slowly through your fingers/whisk. Cover with damp warm kitchen towel and leave to rise until it doubles in size or 1-3 hours.
After batter has risen, mix again gently. Heat vegetable oil in hollow sauce pan and fry small balls over medium heat.
For our sweet toothed readers, mix half a teaspoon of powdered cinnamon and four tablespoon of sugar. Roll puff puff in sugar mix.
We’re sure we don’t need to tell you what to do next 😉
Zobo and pineapple cocktails:
To top things off we used rich and vibrant Zobo leaves to make a lovely cocktail.
You’ll need:
1 diced pineapple
1 cup of Zobo leaves
3 medium sized ginger knobs
50 grams of sugar
To a pot, add zobo leaves, 3 cups of water, ginger and diced pineapple. Boil for 20 minutes to extract flavor from the leaves. Strain liquid into a flask or jar (that can go into the fridge), add sugar and place in refrigerator until chilled.
For an exciting twist try sugar rimmed martini glasses and a splash of Raspberry Vodka with your Zobo!
This completes Eko Cafe’s Independence Day menu.
To our silent hero: the love of vibrant and satisfying food, we pay tribute and say thank you for giving us something to look forward to, something to be united on!
Happy Independence Day everyone!
Ekó Café
http://ekocafe.blogspot.com