Ok this is my second attempt on how to make this dish. The first time I made it I noticed that I need to have some more brain plus the goat’s head I had was just a little meat with a lot of bone lol. 😂😂😂
I told Mr. Riaz we need to get some brain and he came back with a few packets of them.
With the first one I made a Pakistani dish that is posted already. Then I have bought a goat’s head and had the guy cut it in 4 pieces.
I said to myself ok now it is time to make a propper isiewu (goat’s head) and it os going to be delicious.
I took my goat’s head washed it and placed it in the pressure cooker with 3 cloves of garlic and 6 cups of water.
I turned it on to high heat. After the safety button popped up I turned the timer on for 20 minutes then turned the heat off to let the pressure escape.
I opened it when it was safe to do so and seen the meat on the goat’s head itself came right off.
Mr. Riaz wasn’t home yet and I removed the eyes and ate them. Trust me on this one because he doesn’t want this thing looking at him while he is eating it. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
With the package of brain I also took out of my fridge, I placed it in a clean pot with some water and boiled it until it turned opaque in order to clean it.
I then had a big sieve and I drained the brain then set it in a bowl to keep it aside for use in the sauce.
I soaked 1 handful of ugba (oil bean) in 1 cup of cold water for 5 minutes then strained and set it aside. In my mortar and pestle I added 1 small piece of ehru (African or calabash nutmeg) or grated nutmeg only if you can’t find ehru.
I also added 1 pinch each of uziza seeds, crayfish, 1 bullion cube and ground it in to a powder.
I added either 1 habenero or scotch bonnet deseeded to my mortar and pestle and ground it too.
These are kept aside until I was ready.
I added 1 oz of palm oil to a clean pot and turned the heat on to high to melt the palm oil a bit. I mixed 1 tsp of baking soda with 3 tbs of water and added this to the palm oil.
This is also done for nkwobi and abacha too just like we are doing now for isiewu.
I don’t have potash but this works fine too. If it foams up it is ok and it turns the palm oil orange and thicken it up.
I added here my ground up scotch bonnet or habenero, also if not adding these you can add 1 pinch of either African yellow pepper powder or red chili powder.
Don’t add them all please because it would be so hot you can’t eat it. Isiewu is supposed to be spicy but not that spicy.
I also added 1 pinch each of dawadawa, thyme, basil, the contents from my mortar and pestle, 3 dashes of maggi or knorr aroma, 2 pinches of dried utazi leaves and ugba.
I added the brain back to the pot and Mr. Riaz came and finished pulling the meat off the skull for me.
This is added to the pot with the brain and the rest of the meat going then I noticed there was a little stock left from cooking the goat’s head.
I added it to the pot because the brain was not cooked through all of the way.
I cooked it still on high heat stirring occasionally so it doesn’t burn until it reduced greatly.
I added 1 tbs of cornstarch with 3 tbs of water to make a slurry. I added a little extra stock and this is why I did this. It didn’t change the taste at all.
It did give it the thickness I wanted though. I sliced 1 onion or shallot in to rings and placed it as a garnish.
This can be enjoyed with rice and a malt beverage of choice.
