Soft beans, a rich tomato stew and sweet plantain
Red red wasn't my favourite dish growing up, but it's one I've come to really appreciate. Soft black-eyed beans in a rich tomato stew, served with sweet fried plantain: simple Ghanaian comfort food. My version uses fresh tomatoes, red pepper and thyme, with red palm oil gently warmed to start the stew. The palm oil and the plantain are what give the dish its name.
Serves 4 · Prep 15 mins · Cook 45 mins with cooked or tinned beans
Ingredients
For the bean stew
600g cooked black-eyed beans (about 2½ tins, drained and rinsed)
3 tbsp red palm oil
2 medium onions, one sliced and one roughly chopped
5 medium fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 red bell pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
½ to 1 scotch bonnet, to taste
Leaves from 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
½ tsp ground black pepper
Salt, to taste
100 to 200ml water or bean cooking liquid, as needed
For the plantain
3 large ripe plantains, yellow with dark patches
2 to 3 tbsp oil for frying, plus more if needed
A pinch of salt (optional)
To serve
Gari, to sprinkle (optional)
Method
Get the beans ready. Tinned beans just need draining and rinsing. Cooked beans should be soft enough to squash easily between your fingers.
Blend the base. Put the chopped onion, tomatoes, red pepper and scotch bonnet into a blender and blend until smooth, adding only a small splash of water if needed.
Soften the sliced onion. Warm the palm oil in a wide saucepan over a medium-low heat. Add the sliced onion, thyme, black pepper and a little salt. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion starts to soften. Don't let the oil smoke.
Cook down the tomatoes. Pour in the blended mixture and bring it to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring regularly, until it's thicker, deeper in colour and no longer tastes of raw tomato. If it catches on the bottom, lower the heat and add a splash of water.
Add the beans. Fold in the beans with 100ml of water or bean liquid to loosen the stew. Simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beans are well coated. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.
Fry the plantain. While the beans simmer, peel the plantains and cut them on the diagonal into slices about 1cm thick. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and fry in batches for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until golden and tender. Don't crowd the pan, and turn the heat down if they brown before they soften.
Serve. Spoon the stew into bowls with the plantain alongside, and sprinkle over a little gari if you like.
Tips from my kitchen
Cook the tomato base properly. Taste it before adding the beans, and if it still tastes raw, give it longer.
Cooking from dried? Allow extra time. Soak the beans overnight, then simmer them in fresh water for 45 minutes to an hour until soft, and keep some of the cooking liquid for the stew. You can cook a big batch ahead and freeze it in portions.
Choose ripe plantain. Yellow skins with dark patches give you the sweetness that works so well with the savoury stew.
Adjust the consistency gradually. The stew should be thick enough to spoon, with enough sauce to coat the beans.
No plantain? The stew is just as good with rice, boiled yam or on its own.