FISH ALEEFU LEAVES SOUP

Instead of aleefu, one can use bra or any local dark green leafy vegetable (not slimy). Dawadawa is a local condiment made from fermented decorticated African locust bean (Parkia biglobosa) seeds. It is widely used in rural northern Ghana in stew and soup preparations to improve the taste and aroma of the food. It is nutritious; unfortunately, it is being neglected by the urban elite and gradually by some people in the rural areas because of its pungent smell.

Ingredients

•200 g aleefu leaves

•300 g groundnut paste

•130 g raw groundnuts

•200 g tomato

•80 g dry okra

•50 g fish powder

•60 g dawadawa

•15 g hot pepper

•180 g onion

•10 g bouillon tablet

•Salt (to wash the aleefu leaves and for soup to taste)

•3500 ml water

Preparation

•Remove bad fish, fish heads and foreign material or dirt from the lot

•Pound the fish

•Scrape ginger, rinse in clean water and grind

•Sort raw groundnut

•Sort aleefu leaves, clean and wash with 30 g of salt water mixture and cut into desirable pieces

•Pound dawadawa

•Grind hot pepper with tomatoes

•Pound okra (rough texture)

•Slice onion

Cooking

Put water on fire to boil, add groundnut paste and stir to mix; boil until oil comes out

•Add ground tomatoes and hot pepper

•Add pounded dawadawa and fish

•Add crushed bouillon tablet and allow to boil

•Add pounded raw groundnut and okra

•Add 1 tablespoon of ground ginger (optional)

•Add salt to taste and allow to boil until well cooked

•Add cut aleefu leaves, stir and allow to boil for a few minutes

•Bring off fire and serve with tuo zaafi, banku or rice balls.