5000naira 

Nigerian Meals Under 5k

Rice and beans is a sunday classic dish in every Nigerian household. As the name implies, it’s rice cooked together with beans. It’s an exciting twist to the rather usual white rice, and goes with just about any meal.

Nigerian Rice and Beans can be made jollof or paired with any type of stews like Ata din-din, Chicken stew, fish stew, you can also add some vegetables and fried plantains for a sweet and savory combination.

Today we’ll be looking at how to prepare my favorite Nigerian rice and beans with fish sauce with less than 5000 naira.

Ready in 60 minutes 

Serves 4 people

980 calories 

Ingredients

• 1 cup of beans (400 naira)
• 2 cups of rice (1000 naira)
• Salt to taste

For the Sauce

• Tomatoes and pepper (500 naira)
• Fresh fish (700 naira)
• Dry fish (500 naira)
• Ground crayfish (100 naira)
• Maggi cubes
• Ginger and garlic paste (150 naira)
• Onions (100 naira)

Preparation

• Precook the beans. Start by carefully separating the beans seed from any dirt or stones that might be present. You can opt for organic or preselected beans to save yourself of this stress.

• Next wash the beans and place in a pot with some water. Allow to cook for a few minutes before pouring into a sieve and rinsing thoroughly. 

• Now place your rice in a pot and add your precooked beans. We’ll be parboiling the rice alongside the beans, this takes about 10 to 20 minutes depending on the quantity you are making. After about 20 minutes, rinse and place the rice and beans back in the pot with salt to taste for the final cooking.

• Nowadays you can opt for parboiled rice, with such rice you can skip the parboiling process but they are usually more expensive than the regular rice. 
• Time to prepare the sauce. Sauté your chopped onions in a pan, add your ground crayfish, ginger and garlic paste, curry and thyme. This not only makes your home smell of delicious goodness but also adds a lot of flavor to the oil.

• Next, add your dry fish and allow to fry for a few more minutes before adding your blended tomatoes and pepper. 

• Here’s a picture of my blended tomatoes and pepper, i like to rough chop it using my manual blender

• Allow the sauce to fry. With the blended pepper mix in the pan, stir occasionally and allow to fry for 10 to 15 minutes on medium to low heat. You can add some boiled eggs for a lil razzle dazzle or just enjoy the dry fish.

• This sauce pairs deliciously with the rice and beans combo as well as yam or just plain white rice or beans.

Tips

Remember that when trying to save cost or cook Nigerian meals under 5k, having ingredients like oil, onions, rice and seasoning helps to bring the overall cost of subsequent meals down. Its highly recommend to shop for foodstuffs in bulk especially if you are cooking for a family. Here’s another budget friendly rice recipe.