Jollof – bean rice with eggplant and tomato from Benin

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 200 g black-eyed beans, dried, alternatively those from the can
• 2 liters of water
• 2 eggplant(s)
• 1 ½ tbsp oil
• 3 tbsp ginger root
• 2 chili peppers
• 10 tomatoes
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp curry paste, hot
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 onions
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 bell pepper(s)
• 1 ½ tbsp tomato paste
• 500 g carrot(s)
• 500 g green beans
• 320 g rice

Instructions

Working time approx. 10 minutes; Rest time approx. 12 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 10 minutes; Total time approx. 13 hours 20 minutes

Soak the dried black-eyed peas in water overnight. The next day, boil in two liters of water for 15 minutes, then strain and drain. Otherwise, chop the vegetables first. Slice the eggplants, then quarter them. Chop the tomatoes, onions, garlic, chili, and bell peppers. Thinly slice the carrots and grate the ginger. Place the eggplants in a deep dish, season generously with salt, and let them stand for five minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large pan or, better yet, a large pot. Add the eggplants, onions, ginger, chili, garlic, and bell peppers to the pot. Fry everything for five minutes until the eggplants are browned. Remove the eggplants. Now add the cooking water from the beans, or two liters of regular water, including the tomatoes, tomato paste, and cayenne pepper. Mix everything together and add the spicy curry paste. Simmer for ten minutes. After this time, add the black-eyed peas, carrots, and rice. Simmer for another five minutes. Now add the green beans and eggplant and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Then cover the pot and let the stew simmer for another 20 minutes.