Bean porridge has been one of my favorite meals since I was a little child. I, as well as many Nigerians, like to eat it hot with garri, bread, or pap. Beans are a healthy food. Cooking it as porridge is one way to enjoy it.
Bean porridge is very easy to cook. And you don’t need too much money to make it. I used only N1,300 to prepare the beans for this article.
The beans I used for this recipe are the brown beans popularly called "drum beans" in Nigeria. Using other types of beans (honey beans or white beans) will also work well for porridge.
Ingredients to cook bean porridge for 3 servings, including items cost in Naira
- Beans - 2 cups - N600
- Red oil - quarter cup - N150 (half ilarin)
- Onions - small-sized onion - N50
- Fresh pepper - 10 pieces of small size - N200
- Crayfish - 1 teaspoon N100
- Scent leave (optional): a handful (N100)
- Seasoning: 2 cubes - N30
- Salt: a pinch of salt to taste.
- Water
Ingredients preparation
Cooking is fairly simple when ingredients are prepared in advance. Before you start to cook the beans, you have to remove all the chaff from them, except if they were bought from a supermarket. Beans that are sold by the roadside always have chaff and stones in them. Selecting beans before cooking is very important.
Blend the fresh pepper, onions, and crayfish; slice the leaves; and also portion all other ingredients you intend to put inside the beans.
How to cook bean porridge
Stage 1: Wash beans with cold water and boil for 15 minutes. To parboil beans, boil the beans with plenty of water until they are half cooked. On this first stage, if you are cooking with the brown beans, you will notice that when the beans start to boil, the water in them will turn deep brown. When the water gets brown, it's best to drain the water and move on to stage 2 of the cooking.
Stage 2: Boil the beans again. Put 2 cups of water into the cooking pot and let the bean cook until it is soft. Make sure the beans still have a little water in them.
Stage 3: Stir-fry other ingredients: Put the palm oil in a pan or small pot, and add the blended onion and pepper, crayfish, seasoning, and salt one at a time while you stir. Fry it for 2 - 3 minutes before pouring it inside the pot of beans. Give it a light stir and let it cook for 3 minutes before adding the sliced scent leaves.
Cover and let it cook for an extra minute before giving it a good stir.
Your delicious bean porridge is ready to be served.
