Pleasant greetings friends. Welcome to a new month of November. I hope the month remains pleasant for you and yours.
You know, boiled plantain and potato tastes good when eaten with stir fry veggie or fresh tomato sauces, but I tell you, they taste better with palm oil sauce, especially this classic palm oil sauce with scent leaf and utazi leaf (Bush buck, botanically called Gongronema latifolium).
Growing up, this sauce was a staple in our household, often served with boiled yam, plantain, or coco yam. I've been craving this delicacy for some time now, and yesterday I finally made time to prepare it for dinner. The aroma, the taste, everything took me back to carefree days spent around the table with loved ones.
I'm always about eating delicious, healthy and nutritious meals, and I tell you, this food ticks all the boxes.
- Scent leaf and Utazi leaf both contain some essential vitamins and minerals like potassium, calcium and iron.
- Support the immune system and liver health.
- Aid in the regulation of blood pressure.
- Aid digestion and may help relieve stomach pain.
- They can be used to treat ailments like malaria and fevers.
And for extra, the meal is easy and less time consuming to prepare and it's equally pocket friendly.
So sit back and let me walk you through the preparation process.
Ingredients
- 2 ripe plantains and potatoes each, already washed.
- 3 peppers (you can add more if you want it spicy).
- 1 sizeable onion bulb.
- A tablespoon of salt.
- 2 pieces of ehuru (African nutmeg).
- 2 pieces of dry ginger.
- Scent leaves.
- Utazi (bush buck) leaves. These ones are a bit dry that's why they have this texture, but they give same taste with fresh ones.
- Palm oil.
And of course, water.
Let's prep the ingredients.
- I cut the plantain and potatoes in small sizes and then set them on heat to cook. After that, I proceeded to get other ingredients ready.
- I removed the scent leaves from the stem. Later, I washed all the leaves and set aside.
***.
- I washed the onion, cut and set aside. You can see that the onion produced spring onion. I have a couple of them. 😀
- Then to pounding the ingredients. I started with the ehuru and ginger. Once well pounded, I removed them and set aside.
- Next is the peppers and onion. You'd notice that I didn't pound the spring part of the onion. They'll come in handy during the sauce making.
- Lastly, I pounded the leaves. Note you shouldn't pound them too smooth.
Now that the ingredients are ready, I proceeded to prepare the sauce.
- I poured palm oil in a dry pan, added salt and allowed it to heat up for 10 seconds. The idea is not to bleach the oil.
- I added the spring onion and stir fried for 10 seconds.
- The pepper and onion mixture went in next. Stirred for 30 seconds. Then turned off the heat.
- The ginger and ehuru mixture followed. Turned.
- Finally added the pounded utazi and scent leaves and turned well. The palm oil veggie sauce is ready.
Another way to prepare the sauce is just by mixing all the ingredients raw without putting them to heat. Why I opted for this option is to reduce the rawness of the onion. The ginger and ehuru was to spice the taste up more, so it's optional.
By now the plantain and potatoes should have cooked. Drain the remaining water from the pot and peel the skins off. Then serve in your favourite plates. Yum yum. 😂
This meal is called "eri amicha aka" (eat and lick fingers). Lol. It can serve as breakfast, lunch and dinner, and it's good for everyone, vegan and non vegans, old and young alike. I tell you, kids would love it more.
I hope you'll try this recipe. I bet you'll love it.
Thanks for reading and do have a pleasant week ahead.
Author's Photos
Still the #threadsaddict 😂
