I uploaded a picture in Instagram the other day and it was of spices I got from an african store here in Chicago. However I tagged Dutchess O Kitchen and Matsee of Matseecooks because I want their honest opinion and it is helping me a lot.
I know calabash nutmeg is one of the spices used in making pepper soup so I have to use nutmeg until I get some. I called the African store that I buy my stuff from to see if they are going to get it in. That is hard to come by thanks to the sweethearts at the United States customs officials. I hope and pray Inshallah that there is someone in charge that knows what these are used for.
It is a spice for crying out loud, not something that is bad. Good grief!!!!!!!!
I put in my pressure cooker 1 small piece of lemon grass, 1 small marble size of tamarind, 1 bullion cube, 3 dashes of maggi or knoor aroma, 2 goat’s feet, 1 scotch bonnet or habenero chili, 1 shallot chopped, 1 quart or 1 liter of water, and the spices I ground in my mortar and pestle which are, 1 small piece of uda, grated nutmeg which I used for calabash nutmeg alternative and ukazi seeds and I crushed 2 cloves of garlic and 1 thin piece of ginger that I washed and peeled to mortar and pestle and ground them too and added it to my pressure cooker.
I closed the lid of the pressure cooker turned on the burner to medium and watched the safety valve come up and set the timer on microwave to 30 minutes then I turned off the burner and let the pressure cooker escape pressure on its own and when the safety valve went down. I opened the lid to check on the goat’s feet and the water levels. I added another 2 cups of water and put the lid back on the pressure cooker and turned the stove on and watched the pressure build back up and safety valve pop back up and turned the timer back on for another 30 minutes then I let turned the burner off and let the pressure escape once more. Now I am on to the next step.
I got this tip from the lady who has My Active Kitchen Blog about chopping okra in a food processor because it gives soups a very nice draw. She is right I tried it out and I got in to Instagram to tell her thank you.
I again added 1/4 cup of egusi seeds and ground them in to a powder and added 2 tbs of water to make a paste then I took out a clean pot added red palm oil and added the egusi paste fried it a little bit then added the okra i chopped in my food processor.
I added 1 pinch each of red chili powder, crayfish, and paprika. I added the contents from the pressure cooker and watched the soup draw because of the chopped okra.
I put the lid on the pot and turn the burner to low and let it cook for 30 minutes. At the end of cooking time I was good and hungry and I had it to eat with gari.
You can also eat this with amala, semolina fufu and pounded yam too.
benazir's blog 