Ewa Agoyin (Beans with Pepper Sauce)
Ewa agoyin is a Nigerian dish of soft mashed beans served with a dark, oily pepper sauce. The name joins the Yoruba word for beans with a term Nigerians use for people from Benin and Togo. Oloyin honey beans give the best flavor, though white black-eyed peas will do. The sauce gets its depth from soaked dry chillies, shombo and palm oil fried until the onions brown.
Instructions
Pick over the beans to remove any dirt, then wash and drain them and put them in a pot. Cover with water and boil until tender, topping up the water as needed. A pressure cooker works well here if you have one.
When the beans are soft, add about 1 cup of water and some salt and boil a little longer until they are very soft. Take the pot off the heat.
Mash the beans with a potato masher or a hand mixer, then stir hard with a wooden spoon until you have a thick purée. Add about 1 cup of water, stir, and boil for 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside.
Rinse the dry whole chilli pepper, shombo and Cameroon pepper, then soak them in just enough water to cover, either overnight or in boiling water for 2 hours, until soft.
Blend 2 small onions with the soaked peppers, peeled ginger and garlic, adding the soaking liquid, until you have a smooth purée. Set aside.
Heat the palm oil in a dry pot until very hot. Add sliced onions and fry until they float on the oil and turn brown and start to caramelize.
Pour the pepper purée into the hot oil, then add the crayfish and seasoning cubes and stir. Fry gently over medium-low heat, stirring from time to time so it does not burn. Higher heat is faster but needs near constant stirring.
Taste for salt and sourness, then take the pot off the heat. Serve the sauce over the mashed beans.
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