The Locust Bean Stew: Delicious doesn’t have to smell nice.

The Yorubas have two types of stews, one that is barely fried and made with vegetable oil and the other called locust bean stew, fried with with palm oil and is a perfect sauce for rice, boiled yam etc.

Last week, l was asked to help make the locust beans stew for a wedding and I figured, oh well I haven’t really made it the Youruba way before, but I could check on YouTube. On second thoughts, I remembered my friend Aramide Bailey Adepoju , the only Legal Caterer in Abuja and Nigeria . The moimoi connoisseur

Ramzy, gave me specific instructions and I really thank God I called her, there is always a little tip or the other that comes with experience in cooking something. If I had followed only the instructions on YouTube, I would have struggled a bit.

Locust beans stew is made with locust beans (iru, dadawa), pepper mix :tatashe ( capsicum) shambo ( red chilli) hot pepper ( scotch bonnet) onions, assorted meat and other proteins ( prawns, eggs)

It has a process that must be followed through precisely to get the taste correct.

Nutritional value? The healthy food addicts would shy away from this , because of the quantity of palm oil and meats, but every Nigerian dish has its benefits.

The locust bean though very dominant with a strong smell, tastes good and can serve as a tastier alternative to other seasoning cubes. Its health benefits also include vision improvement, and it aids digestion.

A food blogger on Instagram describes this stew as ‘ designer stew’ it’s the kind of food that turns your head ( in Nigerian language) . It can lift anyone out of depression , I can’t guarantee you staying out of it though, but the joy of finding this meal on your table is next too none.

Because I made a huge batch , I had a whole bowl left at home, what I now discovered was that it is a fantastic base for other local dishes.

So, within the week, I used the sauce to make vegetable soup, I just added more smoked fish, spinach and sping onions. On another day, I added rice, smoked fish, spring onions and scent leaf to make local jollof rice. The last bit was used for boiled yam.

I now realise that you can actually just make a bowl of stew without the proteins and keep in your fridge, it’s a quick fix for many other dishes. But it must be well refrigerated, because locust beans has very low tolerance for extended heat when mixed with certain foods.

How about having a locust bean stew for lunch this Sunday ? Invite me please, I want to eat.

Have a beautiful and blessed Sunday.