Koki

Ingredients

• Black-eyed beans500 g
• Red palm oil200 ml
• Hot chilli2
• Onion1
• Spinach — optional200 g
• Ground dried crayfish — optional40 g
• Banana leaves6
• Warm water400 ml
• Salt2 tsp

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Soak the beans four hours, then rub them between your hands so the skins come away.

   35 min

2. 2

   Rinse the beans several times, pouring off the floating skins, until the grains are clean and white.

   20 min

3. 3

   Grind the beans with the onion and chilli into a thick paste, adding water a spoon at a time.

   20 min

4. 4

   Beat the mass by hand or with a spatula for ten minutes, until it lightens and turns airy.

   12 min

5. 5

   Warm the palm oil and work it into the mass to an even orange.

   8 min

6. 6

   Pass the banana leaves over a flame until pliable and spoon the mass onto them with the greens.

   20 min

7. 7

   Fold the parcels, tie them and steam them an hour and a half, until firm.

   95 min

About the dish

The beans are skinned before grinding. Skins left in give a grey colour and a grittiness, while koki should be smooth and orange.

The mass is beaten by hand with water added a little at a time until it turns airy. Unbeaten it gives a dense pudding rather than an open one.

The palm oil goes in hot and is worked through to an even colour. Cold, it sets in grains that never disperse in the steaming.

Worth knowing

• — Skinning the beans is the longest part and cannot be skipped. It is why they soak overnight rather than for an hour.
• — Test the mass with a spoonful in water: a drop should float. If it sinks, it needs longer beating.
• — Banana leaves can be replaced with foil and parchment, but the leaf aroma will be absent. That is worth saying plainly.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

520 kcal

Protein

20 g

Fat

32 g

Carbs

42 g

More from Cameroon

• Ndolé — Bitter leaves with peanut paste, meat and prawns. The national dish of Cameroon.
• Poulet DG — Fried chicken with fried plantain and vegetables. The dish called "the director general's chicken".
• Eru — A Cameroonian stew of finely shredded eru leaf with waterleaf and palm oil.