Ghanaian Red Bean Stew (Atidua)

The Holiday season is here, and this year, I have decided to share a very local Holiday recipe my parents used to eat on Boxing Day. For this blog post, I will be sharing a vegan-friendly red beans stew using red cowpeas. It is simple, delicious and very hearty – perfect fuel for all the boxing day shopping.

Atidua

Atidua is the Twi name for cowpeas. So technically black eye peas are also called atidua. Cowpeas are an important part of the West African diet and come in many types and colours, with different types available depending on the location. They grow well in sandy soil with low rainfall, which also makes them quite a drought-resistant plant. There is a long list of dishes that rely on cowpeas as the sole source of protein- making these dishes perfect for people on a plant-based diet.

This particular type of cowpea can look very much like adzuki beans (red beans used in Eastern Asian cooking); however, the two are not the same and taste very different.

What you will need

This recipe is basically red red with a different type of bean so the same method and process applies here

  • Atidua – red cowpeas. You can usually buy these at West African stores. They might be a bit harder to find because they are really only used in Ghana. Last Last, you can use black eye peas.
  • Aromatics (Onion, garlic, ginger): What is a Ghanaian recipe without the holy trinity.
  • Red Palm Oil: I will say this is essential, since this recipe is so cherished in my parent’s villages I wanted to stay true to the ingredients
  • Tomato: Fresh and in a paste. I use tomato paste in this case to also add a rich tomato flavour to the stew.
  • Scotch Bonnet Pepper: No Ghanaian dish is complete without heat, especially if it is my grandmother making the dish. But I do know that people are not too keen with spice so you can swap scotch bonnet for a less spicy alternative or completely remove it.
  • Atieja: This is a green herb that gives the stew a really authentic flavour. It is not required but if you can find it, that will be the cherry on top.

Red Beans Stew

Stew Ghanaian
By Afia Serves: 6
Prep Time: 2 hours Cooking Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups dry red cowpeas (atidua)
  • 2 onions (1 finely diced, 1 roughly chopped)
  • 1/4 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1 large thumb of ginger
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 1 scotch bonnet pepper
  • 3 calabash nutmeg
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds
  • 2 tsp anise seeds
  • 1/2 tsp rosemary
  • 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
  • 1 tbsp better than bouillon vegetarian no beef base
  • 1 bay leaf

Instructions

1

1. Soak the beans overnight

2

2. Boil in a pot with a lot of water. Make sure the beans are very very submerged in the water. Boil for 1.5 hours or till tender. Alternatively, you can use a pressure cooker and cook for 30 minutes on high pressure. These beans are hard so they do take more time to cook than black eye peas.

3

3. In a pot at medium heat, heat the palm oil and saute the chopped onions in the oil

4

4. Once the onions are soft, add in the tomato paste and let it fry

5

5. While the tomato paste is frying, blend the rest of the ingredients (except the beans and bay leaf) with 1/4 cup of water till smooth

6

6. Add the blended mixture and the bay leaf to the pot and mix everything well together.

7

7. Let it come to a boil, then lower the heat. Let it cook for about 15 - 20 minutes till it is thick.

8

8. While the tomato sauce is cooking, use a potato masher to mash half of the beans. You don't want it to be smoothly mashed.

9

9. Once the stew is thick, add the beans and another 1/4 cup of water and let everything simmer for another 10 minutes.

10

10. Serve with boiled yam or plantain***

Notes

For instructions on how to boil plantain, please check out my plantain guide.

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5 Comments

  • Reply
    Sara Hosseini
    June 28, 2022 at 12:47 am

    I just made this with a friend, she loved it, my roommate loved it, and so did my partner. Huge success. It was my first time using all these ingredients but now i have a ton of them leftover so will be exploring the rest of your blog for more recipes.
    Thank you !

  • Reply
    Vee
    August 16, 2022 at 9:39 am

    What is atieja in English

  • Reply
    How to Cook African Yam - The Canadian African
    September 1, 2022 at 1:38 am

    […] Atidua (Red Beans Stew) […]

  • Reply
    Franca
    September 10, 2022 at 3:58 pm

    What is fenugreek seeds in twi

    • Reply
      thecanadianafrican
      September 10, 2022 at 9:11 pm

      unfortunately I do not know

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