Truly African

Passport & Plate - "NDOLE"

Ingredients
-Fresh bitter leaves,
- dry groundnuts
-green pepper
-pepper
-Table salt
- cryfish
-honing cubes
-fresh cow meat and dry fish
-ginger and garlic
-groundnut oil
-onions

 

How to prepare this recipe
The first thing is to get fresh bitter leaves from the market. these leaves needs to be sliced into portable chucks and boiled for about 30 minutes. to make the leaves became a "NDOLE" soup, we need to grind the ginger and garlic, green pepper, pepper into the blender. sliced onions and slightly smashed cryfish and boiled meat and selcted dryfish. After 30minutes, the leaves have now lost bulk and it should be squeezed and sliced again to make it look appetizing. We also have to soak groundnut into hot water and allow it get dry. when it is dry, we peel off the skin so that it is all white. We put the groundnuts into a blender and grind it. when it is ready , we pour it inside the bitter leaves already on fire and stir till it gradually mixes well. We add some cry fish, table salt , grinned ginger, garlic, onion,green pepper, pepper and honing cube and stir for a while.After 2 minutes we pour the groundnut oil equally adding the boiled fresh meat and fixed dryfish. We stir properly until the oil mixes with the "NDOLE". There has to be enough groundnut oil in the soup. We alow now for 15 minutes and our "NDOLE" will be ready. This can be accompanied with compliments like ripe or unripe boiled plantains, Irish potatoes or better still what welocally call "BOBOLO" which is prepared by fermenting Cassava and wrapping it and boiling.

 

The story behind this recipe
This meal, called the "NDOLE" is a Duala traditional dish mostly prepared for the bride and groom on their wedding day. it is very special because it usually has alot of meat and fish in the source . It is also prepared when an important personality like the chief visits a commoner, or when there is the village gathering meeting.
When the NDOLE is prepared, people know for sure that some important event or visitor is around the corner.