How To Prepare Banku and Okro Stew

How To Prepare Banku and Okro Stew. One of Ghana’s amazing dish enjoyed by many household. This meal is one of the best, it is delicious and tasty.

Okra is known as okro throughout West Africa. The etymology of the word okra is traced to the 1670s in West Africa, with the name okra sounding fairly close to the Igbo (Nigeria) word, ọ́kụ̀rụ̀, as well as the Akan (Ghana, Twi) word, nkuruma.

It is known by other names such as nkruma (Twi, Fante), betri or fetri (Ewe), engmomi (Ga), ila (Yoruba) and gombo (Bantu/French Speaking Africa/Congo).

My family can’t do without this meal and every weekend it is number one on the list.

I will guide you through making this meal and you can make yours from scratch with no difficulties….

HOW TO MAKE CORN DOUGH AT HOME

Sort out your maize or corn to remove stones. Then blend into powder OR

Place in a bowl and cover completely with water. Set aside for 2-3 days.

Afterwards,drain the water and discard. Wash the corn with fresh water.

Send to the grinding mill or using a fine blender, blender to get a powder.

Dry it out to cool down before adding a moderate water to knead to form a dough. Avoid adding too much water to prevent the dough from spoiling.

Place the dough in a container and remove from direct contact with heat or sunlight.

EQUIPMENT

Wooden spatula

Colander

Cooking Pot

ADDITIONAL RECIPE NOTES ON HOW TO PREPARE BANKU AND OKRO STEW

Banku can be eaten with different kinds of soup like PALM NUT SOUP, GROUNDNUT SOUP, GOAT LIGHT Soup and etc

When kneading banku, lower heat to prevent bottom of pot from burning.

If you want you okro very slimy, it’s advisable to grate okra than dicing.

Avoid putting Okro stew on fire for a long after cooking, this will cause the slimy nature to stop.

You can use any meats, fish of preference. Try varieties of meat with okro stew.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS

For Banku:

1 cup of Corn Dough

1/2 cup of Cassava Dough

Salt to taste

For Okro Stew:

1 cup Okra, diced

1 pound meat or chicken, cut into pieces

2 onions

4 medium-sized tomatoes

4 pieces Kpakpo shito pepper

1 inch root Ginger

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 tablespoons herrings

Cowhide (Wele)

1/2 cup Palm Oil or Vegetable oil

Crabs (optional)

1 salted fish(momoni)

Salt

Seasoning cube or powder

DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO PREPARE BANKU

In a large bowl, mix Cassava dough with moderate water and strain out the lumps using colander into pot or saucepan.

After straining into pot, add corn dough, add extra water and mix together using your hands until smooth and slightly thick mixture is formed. Add salt to taste

Under medium heat, place mixture on fire. Stir consistently until the mixture starts to boil.

Once it begins boiling, use a spatula(Banku ‘ta’) to knead the mixture to prevent it from forming lumps.

Continuously knead the mixture intermittently until it gets smoother and thicker and its colour changes slightly for about 15 minutes.

Banku is ready when you don’t taste the raw corn dough after eating or you can mash a little of the cooked mixture in a little water. If it dissolves and turns milky then your Banku isn’t ready.

When the Banku is ready, scoop it out and wrap each ball in a plain polythene rubber.

Banku can be kept for about two-three days in an airtight container or longer period in a fridge

DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO PREPARE OKRO STEW

Wash chopped meat, crabs and cowhide in a large bowl.

Wash and cut into pieces 1 onion, garlic, pepper and ginger. Blend until smooth. Reserve some for stew

Place meat, crabs and wele in a saucepan, add a little water, salt, spices and bring to a boil. Pour in blended ingredients(reserve 1/4 cup) and steam for about 10 mins until tender.

In a separate pot, place chopped okro, add a cup of water and let it simmer for about 8 mins. Remove from fire and allow it to cool.

Now pour some palm oil into another saucepan. Add salted fish and sliced onions. Cook for about 3 mins

Add reserved blended kpakpo shito(pepper), ginger and garlic and allow to simmer for about 5 mins.

Wash and chop tomatoes and add to the sauce.

Wash your herrings and take out the bones, add to the sauce and let it simmer for about 5 mins.

Now add your steamed beef, and cowhide (wele), stir and cook for a while

Add your cooked okro and stir to mix evenly, reduce the heat and allow it to cook for about 10 mins. Add some salt to your preferred taste.

TRY OTHER AFRICAN RECIPES

HOMEPAGE RECIPES

HOW TO PREPARE VEGETABLE STEW

HOW TO PREPARE EBUNUEBUNU

HOW TO PREPARE FANTE FANTE

HOW TO PREPARE AMPESI

HOW TO PREPARE PAWPAW STEW

MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE,BUT BY EVERY WORD(JESUS) THAT PROCEEDETH OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.kjv