Le Tô Sauce Gombos (Tô with Okra Sauce) is a traditional Burkinabe recipe for a classic vegetarian dish of millet or maize flour balls served with an okra, locust bean and onion sauce with hot chilli. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Burkinabe version of: Tô with Okra Sauce (Le Tô Sauce Gombos).
(click this button to prevent the screen from sleeping so Cook Mode is 'ON')
This dish is commonly called the National Dish of Burkina Faso. Indeed, this is the daily staple for the vast majority of the country's rural inhabitants. Traditionally it is eaten with the hand, with pieces of the tô (thick porridge) used to scoop up the sauce.
Ingredients:
For the Tô:
1kg millet flour or maize flour (or a mix)
750ml water
2l water (for cooking)
salt, to taste
For the Okra Sauce:
18 okra
1 tbsp soumbala (fermented locust beans), crushed in a mortar
3 onions, peeled and sliced
100ml vegetable oil
1 hot chilli (Habanero typically)
salt, to taste
Method:
Begin with the tô: Mix the 750ml water into the flour to produce a creamy mixture.
Add 2l water to a large pot and season with a little salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, then add the flour mix in batches, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Reduce the heat to a very low simmer and continue cooking, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens sufficiently that the dough comes away from the sides of the pot.
Take off the heat at this point and allow to cool until it can be handled. Using a spoon or your hands scoop up portions of the dough and shape into small, elongated, cakes. Set aside to keep warm.
For the okra sauce: Trim the okra then slice coarsely before pounding to a paste in a mortar. Combine the onion and soumbala and pound in a mortar until you have a smooth paste.
Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion paste and fry for 2 minutes then stir in the okra paste. Cook for 10 minutes then add the chilli. Continue cooking the sauce for 5 minutes more.
)
