Toborgee Beans is a traditional Liberian recipe for a classic stew of beans and meat in a red palm oil base with chillies. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Liberian version of: Toborgee Beans.
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Toborgee beans is a Liberian dish of cowpeas cooked in a specific type of red palm oil, toborgee oil, with a distinctive flavour. Traditionally it's prepared by the people of Lofa County in Liberia.
Ingredients:
500g (1 lb) assorted meat (eg: chicken, smoked fish, meat and seafood)
900g (2 lbs) Red Cow Peas
500ml (2 cups) African Red Palm Oil (toborgee oil if you can find it)
½ tbsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 medium Onion, sliced
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 Habanero peppers
1 ½ tbsp Chicken Flavour Bouillon
Salt and freshly-ground Black Pepper, to taste
Method:
Combine the red cow peas with 1.25l (5 cups) water in a large pot, adding more water to ensure the beans are covered. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for 1 hour until the beans are soft then take off the heat and set aside.
Combine the different meats in another pot along with a generous pinch of salt, the onion, garlic powder, 1/4 tsp black pepper, whole chillies and smoked paprika. Add water to just cover, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook for 30 minutes to yield a stock. After this time remove the parboiled meats and set the meat and stock aside.
Stir the chicken bouillon into the hot stock then drain the beans and add to the stock. Bring to a simmer, and cook, uncovered, for about 45 minutes or until the stock simmers down.
Add the parboiled meat to the beans, stirring to combine. Adjust the seasonings to taste then reduce the heat to low and stir in the red palm oil. Stir well to combine then mix the bicarbonate of soda to a paste with a little water and add this to the beans.
