Nigerian Meals Under 5k
5,000 naira
Fried Beans is a national delicacy, it can be served as breakfast, lunch or dinner. Nigerian fried beans is hearty, tasty, and quite filling. It is usually paired with white rice, Garri (cassava flakes), fresh bread, or fried ripe plantains. This fried beans recipe uses a stew base so can also pass as stewed beans. Here’s how to prepare this delicious and incredibly economical Nigerian fried beans.
Ready in 90 minutes
Serves 6 people
580 calories
Ingredients
- 3 cups of white beans (1200 naira)
- Fresh Tomatoes and pepper (700 naira)
- 2 medium onions (200 naira)
- Smoked mackerel (1500 naira)
- Grounded crayfish (100 naira)
- 2 seasoning cubes (100 naira)
- Palm oil (300 naira)
- Dried prawns (500 naira)
- Cow skin (500 naira)
- salt to taste
Preparation
- For some people eating beans usually cause heartburn, bloating and even stomach upset. To prevent that, soak the beans in cool water overnight. This helps to release the gas trapped inside the beans and reduce the discomfort associated with eating beans. If you are pressed for time and cannot soak the beans overnight, you can parboil the beans first before cooking.
- So firstly, wash your beans after selecting and removing any dirt in the mix, then place the beans in a cooking pot with enough water.
- Allow it to cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, then drain and rinse the beans before placing it back in the pot to cook till it softens.
- If you soaked the beans overnight, you can skip the parboiling process and just go ahead to give the beans a good rinse and boil till it softens.
- Blend the tomatoes and pepper with 1 onion, cut the second onion into thin slices and debone the smoked mackerel. Also remove the heads from the dried prawns and cut the cow skin into small chunks.
- In a frying pan, add the palm oil and allow it to bleach slightly then throw in the sliced onions.
- Allow the onions to saute a bit before introducing the dried prawns and ground crayfish, this should fry for about 3 minutes before you add the blended tomatoes and pepper mix.
- Fry the tomatoes till the oil floats to the top, add the smoked mackerel, chopped cow skin and 2 seasoning cubes.
- Check the beans to see its level of softness, it should be 90% cooked through before you add the stew base. If the beans is soft enough, mix in the stew with some salt to taste, and reduce the heat to low so it can steam cook the remaining 10% and it’s done.
- Serve with the Fried Plantains, white rice, Soaked Garri or bread.
Tips
Nigerian fried beans is one of the few meals you can whip up with less than 5k that is delicious, filling and can serve as a full meal for 5 to 6 people adequately. Here are some other Nigerian meals under 5k.