Ask for breakfast at a tangana stall in Dakar and you will often be handed half a baguette filled with ndambé: niébé simmered with onions, tomato and a little chilli until it is thick enough to spread. At home it is a weeknight staple, cooked in one pot and served over rice, in bread, or next to grilled fish.
Serves: 4 to 6 · Time: 1 hour 30 minutes, plus soaking
Ingredients
- 2 cups Tonton Jeb Black Eyed Peas (niébé), soaked overnight
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 large onions, finely sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 ripe tomatoes, chopped, or 1 cup crushed tomatoes
- 1 Scotch bonnet or habanero chilli, whole (or to taste)
- 1 bay leaf, 1 teaspoon black pepper, salt
- Optional: 1 stock cube, a squeeze of lime to finish
Method
- Drain the soaked niébé, cover with fresh water in a large pot, and simmer for 40 to 50 minutes until tender but not falling apart. Drain, keeping a cup of the cooking water.
- In the same pot, heat the oil and cook the onions slowly for 10 minutes until soft and sweet. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
- Stir in the tomato paste and fry it for 2 minutes until it darkens, then add the chopped tomatoes, bay leaf, pepper and whole chilli.
- Add the cooked niébé and the reserved cooking water. Season with salt or the stock cube.
- Simmer uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring now and then and crushing some of the peas against the side of the pot, until the stew is thick and glossy.
- Remove the chilli and bay leaf, taste, finish with lime, and serve hot.
Tips from the pantry
- Ndambé is even better the next day. Serve it over Senegalese Local Rice for dinner and in bread for breakfast.
- For a richer version, brown 300 g of minced beef with the onions before adding the tomato.
- No time to soak? Cover the dry niébé with boiling water for 1 hour, then cook as above; add 15 minutes to the simmering time.
