Nigerian Stewed Beans (Ewa Riro)

One of the reasons I love this stewed beans recipe is because of just how easy and quick it was to prepare. It was quick because I used lentils. Lentils are much smaller, they don’t take as long to cook – 20 minutes for lentils compared with 60+ minutes for black-eyed beans.

In terms of taste, the finished result doesn’t taste different from recipes using black-eyed beans or brown beans. The only thing you will notice is a difference in texture – lentil grains are a lot smaller than black-eyed beans or brown beans.

Ingredients
• 2 cups lentil beans (black-eyed beans or other types but this will cause different cooking time to soften beans)
• 5 cups water
• 1/2 medium-sized onion, diced
• 1 scotch bonnet pepper, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp palm oil
• 1/2 cup blended pepper
• 2 stock cubes
• Smoked fish
• 2 tbsp ground crayfish

Directions
1. Boil lentil beans in three cups of water for 20-25 minutes.
2. Pour out excess liquid (no need to fully drain).
3. Add onions, scotch bonnet pepper, palm oil, stock cubes, blended pepper and smoked fish along with 1.5 cups water and stir.
4. Cook beans for 15 extra minutes or until beans are soft to bite, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
5. Serve hot with baked plantain, grilled fish, and garri (dried cassava flakes).