Tag: side dish
African Corn Tamales wrapped in Banana Leaves
African Corn Tamales wrapped in Banana Leaves
These corn tamales are indigenous to Centra African cuisine; specifically Cameroonian. They consist of corn, cornmeal, palm oil, and spinach wrapped and steamed in banana leaves. The main difference between wrapping your tamales in banana leaves as opposed to corn husks like the Mexican version is that the banana leaves give the tamales more of an earthy flavor while husks make it taste more corny. I have been putting off making these for the last month thinking that they were going to take longer than I thought. You can honestly make the corn mixture in less than 10 minutes. The banana leaves took less than 10 minutes to wash and heat up under the broiler. This step is very important and can’t be missed. Heating them up under a flame allows the leaves to be pliable. If you skip this step, the leaves will tare when you roll up the tamales. I’m extremely efficient in rolling up things; so it took me less than 5 minutes to make the entire batch of tamales. This recipe should yield you 10-12 tamales. So 25-30 minutes of assembly with 90 minutes of steaming. When they are finished, the tamales need to sit for 15-20 to firm up.These tamales can be eaten out of the leaves as is or are even better topped with cheese, sour cream, and hot sauce. Skip the cheese and sour cream if you want these to continue to be vegan.
Equipment
- Blender or food processor
- steamer pot and basket
Ingredients
- 6 cup corn
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 3 tbsp palm oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp dehydrated onion
- 3 cups spinach chopped
- banana leaves
Instructions
- In a blender or food processor, pulse the corn with 1 cup of water until roughly chopped, but not puréed.
- Add the corn mixture to another bowl with cornmeal, salt, palm oil, garlic powder, and dehydrated onions. Mix thoroughly.
- Mix in the spinach.
- Tare the banana leaves into 10”x12” pieces. Wash thoroughly. Place them under your broiler for a minute. This helps them be pliable. Take 1 cup of the corn mixture and place it across the center of the banana leaf.
- Roll it up. Don’t smoke it.
- Line the bottom of a steamer basket with banana leaves. You don’t want any water touching the tamales while steaming.
- Place the tamales upright in the steamer basket. Cover and let steam for 90 minutes.
- When finished steaming, remove from the pot and let sit for 15-20 minutes to firm up.
- You can eat these asis right out of the banana leaf.
- Or you can top the tamales with sour cream and your favorite hot sauce.
African Yellow Rice
African Yellow Rice (Instant Pot)
Yellow rice is a popular side dish in South African, Indian, Spanish, Caribbean, amongst many other ethnic cuisines. The rice is yellow from the use of either turmeric or saffron; depending on what version of yellow rice you’re going to make. This African yellow rice couldn’t be simpler to make; especially using the Instant Pot. Simply sauté the spices for a minute, allowing them to permeate. Then sauté the rice for 2 minutes. Pour in the stock and set to the pressure cooker setting for 4 minutes on high. And it’s done that quick.If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can definitely prepare this rice on the stove top. Again, sauté the spices, then rice. You will need to use 4 cups of stock instead of 2. Once you add the stock, reduce the heat to low, covering and cooking for about 20 minutes.
Equipment
- instant pot
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp curry powder
- 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
- 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
- 2 cups basmati rice washed and rinsed
- 2 cups chicken stock
Instructions
- Set your instant pot to the sauté setting on medium heat. Add the cooking oil. Add in all of the spices, allowing to permeate for 1 minute.
- Stir in the rice. Cook for 2 more minutes.
- Pour in the chicken stock. Put on the instant pot cover. Change the settings to pressure cooker on high for 4 minutes.
- Once the 4 minutes are up, release the pressure. Fluff the rice with a fork. Serve with your favorite protein.
Red Rice
Red Rice
Red rice is a staple in Mexican cuisine and is prepared almost every day in Mexican households. There are many different ways in preparing this side dish. Some recipes use butter or lard instead of oil. Some have no peas or carrots in them. Some serve the rice with a fried egg on top. Play around with this recipe to your liking. This is a very basic version of red rice. There are a few steps that are critical to the end results of your rice. The first is to make sure that you soak the rice in warm water first for 5 minutes. This will help remove a lot of the excess starch. Next is to fry your rice until it is golden brown. The purpose of doing this helps keep the rice from sticking together. Once you add all of the liquid and cover the pot, it is very important to keep the lid on at all times and not stir the rice. Just let it be. Not touching the rice allows it to not be mushy.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup white rice
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 2 roma tomatoes
- 1/4 white onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 cup frozen peas and carrots defrosted
- 1 serrano pepper sliced paper thin
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a blender or food processor, add tomatoes, onion, and garlic.
- Purée and set aside.
- Soak the rice in warm water for 5 minutes, then rinse.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the rice. Fry for 8-10 minutes until golden brown, stirring occasionally to make sure the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Add in the tomato purée. Cook for 5 minutes. Give it a few stirs.
- Add in the chicken stock, peas and carrots, Serrano pepper, ans salt. Give it a stir. Reduce the heat to medium. Cover and cook until all the liquid has been absorbed, 10-15 minutes.
- Remove from heat, leaving the cover on. Do not stir. Let rest for 10 more minutes. After that, you can fluffwith a fork and serve.
