Nyemba or cow-peas in English are quite popular in Zimbabwe. The leaves are eaten as a side dish and the cow-peas are usually served boiled in water and some salt. Cow-peas are relatively easy to grow, they are sown together with maize(corn). They are harvested earlier than the maize before they are fully dried. Sometimes cow-peas are boiled skin-on whilst still fresh. Other than salt nothing else is added so some people like them and some people do not.
Like I have mentioned before I went to a Christian Mission boarding school and for the four years I went there we had beans at least four times a week. Fun times! They were horrible and sometimes they would add cow-peas to beef up the beans. It just did not work because the beans and the cow-peas did not cook evenly. The sauce was so runny, I think sometimes they just boiled the legumes and added some salt. We used to add ketchup to the beans to make it taste better.
This weekend I decided to experiment with cow-peas. I created this curry to be eaten as a main dish or to be served on top of rice or with sadza. The recipe is quite easy to follow and the curry make the cow-peas flavourful.
Nyemba(cowpeas) Curry
Ingredients
- 1 table spoon olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 table spoon fresh ginger minced
- 2 table spoon tomato paste or ketchup
- 2 table spoon curry powder
- ½ tea spoon red pepper flakes
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups dry cow-peas
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
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In a saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat and fry the onion, garlic and ginger until the onion is translucent, about 7 minutes.
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Add the tomato paste (or ketchup), curry powder, and red pepper flakes and cook for another minute.
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Add the vegetable broth, diced tomatoes and cow-peas. Cover and bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat for 2 hours minutes, until the cow-peas are very tender. Season with salt and pepper.
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Serve with rice or bread.