Before anyone starts harping about the way I did my sauce please bare in mind that I have my way of doing things and what may work for you may not work for me and vice versa.
There is a saying called too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the broth and I let Mr. Riaz know all of the time when I am in the kitchen cooking please but out. Everyone is entitled to cook what and how they want to and now I am off of my soap box, I am ready to cook.
I take 1 to 2 cups of either brown beans or black eye peas to wash and let them soak overnight. I also soak 4 stockfish pieces and 2 pieces of dried smoked fish. Yes stockfish pieces are availabe. If you are here in Chicago, Old World Market has them.
I put my beans that I had soaked in the stovetop pressure cooker or instant pot. Sometimes I forget to soak my stockfish and dried smoked fish and from here I end up boiling them until they are soft and getting the salt out of the dried fish then add those to the beans after I break it in to tiny pieces. I actually boil the stockfish pieces and dried smoked fish in a small pot then drain them in the sink before I add them to the beans in case I forget to soak them.
To this pot with 1 cup of beans, 4 stockfish pieces and 3 pieces of dried smoked shrimp, 2 dried smoked fish pieces, I add 1 pinch each of crayfish, bonga fish powder, 1 bullion cube, 3 dashes of maggi or knorr aroma and 1 liter or 1 quart of water. I stirred and turned on the burner, closed up the stovetop pressure cooker or instant pot and the like on high and after the safety valve popped up I set the timer for 20 minutes. When time is up I simply turn off the burner and proceed with the next step.
While that is cooking now I am on to the sauce. I cut 1 red bell pepper in to tiny bits and put 1/4 cup of water in the blender and added those pieces a little at a time because I used my immersion blender or stick blender.
I added 1 dried Cameroon pepper, 3 chili d’arbol and 1 large dried red chili of any type. To my cast iron skillet I have added 1 cooking spoon full of red palm oil. I know what you think there is no way I am going to be eating my food with an ocean of oil in it. While I was in Pakistan 20 years ago I got sick from eating food cooked with too much ghee and it took a long time for my poor stomach to recover. An excess of anything is no good. You can’t put a lot of oil, salt and chili in to a dish to the point you can’t taste your food means you are not a good cook. The spices are supposed to enhance the flavor not cover it up.
Please do not think I am going to attack you which I am not. I am just trying to help you be a better cook. Some bleach the palm oil at this point after they make the blended peppers in the blender. I have weak lungs due to me being asthmatic and this process may make me cough like crazy.
I cut up 1 shallot or onion and added it to the skillet and fried it after the palm oil melted. At this stage I would add 1 tbs of peanut oil and kept stirring until the onion is well caramelized. I add the pepper purè to the skillet and I fry it until I see a lot of cracks in it and the oil is oozing. Also there should be no moisture remaining from this sauce. This is all done at very high heat.
Back to the pressure cooker, after the pressure has subsided and the valve has lowered, open the cooker and check the beans. If it soft and mushy and there is not that much water then take the potato masher and get to mashing the beans.
If it is too soupy turn the burner to high heat and cook it down until the beans become a thick mush. If your your beans turns out soft and mushy and there is hardly any water remaining skip this step .
Now plate the beans by emptying the contents from the pressure cooker. The beans should look like it does here in the picture. Take all of the fried pepper sauce and add it on top of the beans and enjoy with your type of bread of choice.
Mine was my homemade whole wheat bread rolls. No I do not serve any type of white bread on my table and it is a matter of preferance. Enjoy your meal.
