Welcome to Benin! This year, we, along with our church, did Operation Christmas Child boxes. This year, our boxes went to Benin! I had to look up where this country was. It sounds like Benin has had a rough history - in the 18th and 19th century, its southern coast was known as the Slave Coast. This is one of the coasts where ships of slaves would set off for America for over 100 years. The average number of slaves shipped from this coast was 10,000 per year. According to Google, the population of Benin is 13.35 million people and the capital is Porto-Novo. Their national dish is...
Kuli-Kuli!
It is a peanut-based snack that is usually savory. Since we thought we needed more than a snack for dinner, we also made Fufu with Beef and Red Sauce. Sounds delicious, right? I borrowed the fufu recipe from the Central African Republic, since I didn't have cassava...Here's what we did:
- Grind or pound the roasted peanuts and ginger until a granular paste.
- Put your dough in a white kitchen towel and squeeze out the peanut butter to remove as much oil as possible (this step is very important if you want a crisp Kuli Kuli).
- Repeat until you have squeezed out the paste to remove all the oil.
- In a pan, mix your peanut paste, ginger, and chili powder and mix well.
- Roll out the dough into ropes (about 3 inches), or roll them into small balls.
- Heat the peanut oil, and fry your Kuli Kuli to obtain a brown golden color.
- Drain on paper towels and let cool.
- Enjoy!
2 tbsp peanut oil
2 onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 C beef broth
1 1/2 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
- Sauce: Heat the oil over medium heat in a medium pot.
- Add the onions and cook until translucent, 4-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and chopped jalapeños, cook 1 minute.
- Stir in the tomatoes and broth.
- Add the beef and bring to a simmer.
- Braise the beef for 20 minutes, simmering gently.
- Season with pepper and more salt if needed.
- Fufu: Heat water in a medium saucepan until it boils.
- Beat 2/3 C cornmeal with the cream to a smooth paste.
- Gradually work this mixture into the boiling water, stirring constantly.
- Cook for 5 minutes, gradually adding the remaining cornmeal as you do so.
- When the mixture thickens sufficiently to come away from the sides of the pot, take off the heat.
- Turn the fufu into a bowl lined with saran wrap and shape into a ball.
- Serve immediately.
