Actually since there are many ways to make pepper soup and I have decided to switch things up a little. So to this one I added the option of lime leaves, curry leaves or lemon grass. I threw some other last minute goodies in there towards the end of the cooking process. I hope you will enjoy my version of this pepper soup. Oxtails comes from the same animal as beef which is either a cow or a bull.
If you want you can even add beef necks to it also. The end result that it is awesomely delicious as well as always. Nothing beats a nice hot bowl of pepper soup on a cold day to warm you up inside. It also makes you sweat a nasty cold out of you and you can breathe easily after eating it.
First make pepper soup spice in mortar and pestle also add 1 small broken piece of prekese and grind a way in the same mortar and pestle then set aside.
In a pressure cooker on high heat add 1 oz of red palm oil, either 1 onion or shallot or green onions and fry until slightly brown. Add either 4 curry leaves, 3 lime leaves or 3 pices of lemon grass, the contents of the mortar and pestle, add 1 habenero or scotch bonnet deseeded to mortar and pestle along with 3 cloves of garlic and 1 small piece of ginger chopped. Grind these and add these to the palm oil mixture.
If you didn’t add habenero or scotch bonnet chili you can add 1 pinch of African yellow chili powder or red chili powder, 1 pinch of paprika, 1 kg or lb of either beef stew meat, beef necks or even oxtails. Fry it a little and add 1 pinch each of tamarind paste, sentleaf or basil, thyme, crayfish, 1 bullion cube, 3 dashes of maggi or knorr aroma, also you can add either 1 pinch of uziza leaves, bitterleaf, 3 pinches of either ugu which are pumpkin leaves, moringa leaves or dried taro leaves. Add 2 liters or 1/2 gallon of water in to the pressure cooker.
You can either leave it alone like this or add 3 potatoes that have been scrubbed and quarterd, 1 yam, 1 cassava, 4 colocasia, 2 green plantains or 1 cup of chopped okra. I used potatoes and threw it in there with the meat. Yam, cassava colocasia and the chopped okra can be done in this manner too. Close the cooker and let the pressure build and the safety button pops up. Let cook for 30 minutes, let pressure escape after turning off the heat. Here is where you can add the green plantain is when after you peel it then cut it in to 3 sections, add to the soup along with 1 pinch of achi or other soup thickener.
Let cook another 5 minutes to allow the plantain to soften. If you do not want to put any of these in your soup then you can enjoy with fufu of choice. P.S. for the instant pot and the like start on sauté starts as the same as regular stovetop instructions. After the palm oil, onions, garlic and other things are added; be sure to fry the beef a little. Add the achi or other soup thickener then add water and tap cancel button then select pressure cook same as stovetop pressure cook method.
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