Black-eyed peas simmered until creamy in a smoky pepper and tomato sauce, a hearty vegetarian staple.
Ewa riro, meaning cooked beans in Yoruba, is a black-eyed pea stew found throughout southwestern Nigeria, usually served alongside plantain, rice or agege bread. The beans are boiled until fully tender, a step that takes patience since black-eyed peas need a longer simmer than lentils, then combined with a blended pepper sauce built from the same tomato, red bell pepper and scotch bonnet base used in jollof and other Nigerian stews. Palm oil is traditionally used to fry the pepper base, giving the stew a distinctive reddish-orange color and slightly nutty, earthy flavor that vegetable oil alone doesn't replicate, though vegetable oil works as a substitute for those who don't have it on hand. Smoked fish or crayfish is often stirred in for depth, though the dish is easily made fully vegetarian by leaving those out and relying on the beans and pepper sauce alone. The finished stew is thick, deeply savory and slightly spicy, with beans that have absorbed the sauce fully rather than sitting in a thin broth, making it filling enough to serve as a main dish rather than a side.
Serves 5
Drain the soaked black-eyed peas and boil in fresh water with half the salt until fully tender, 40 to 50 minutes, topping up water as needed. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
While the beans cook, blend tomatoes, red bell pepper, scotch bonnet and half the onion until smooth.
Heat oil in a pot over medium heat. Fry diced onion until soft, then add the blended pepper mixture. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until it thickens and darkens, 15 to 20 minutes.
Let the pepper sauce cook down until you see the oil separate slightly at the edges -- that's the sign it's concentrated enough to coat the beans properly.
Stir the cooked beans into the pepper sauce along with crayfish, seasoning cubes and smoked fish if using. Add a splash of the reserved bean liquid to loosen if needed.
Simmer 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beans have absorbed the sauce and the stew is thick. Adjust salt to taste and serve hot with plantain, rice or bread.
Soak the black-eyed peas for at least an hour before boiling to cut down the cooking time and help them cook evenly.
Cook the blended pepper base until it visibly thickens and darkens before adding the beans -- a watery sauce won't cling properly.
Palm oil gives the most authentic flavor and color, but if unavailable, vegetable oil with a pinch of paprika gets you close.
Ewa aganyin style: mash a portion of the cooked beans slightly for a creamier texture alongside whole beans.
Fully vegetarian: omit crayfish and smoked fish, and add a splash of vegetable stock for depth instead.
With boiled eggs: serve topped with halved boiled eggs, a common street-food style pairing.
Refrigerate up to 4 days in an airtight container; the stew thickens as it sits, so add a splash of water when reheating on the stove. Freezes well for up to 2 months.
Ewa riro is a Yoruba staple from southwestern Nigeria, traditionally eaten with boiled or roasted plantain, and reflects the region's broader use of blended pepper sauces as a flavor base across many stews and soups.
An hour of soaking is usually enough for black-eyed peas since they're smaller and cook faster than most other dried beans, though soaking longer won't hurt.
Yes, vegetable oil works as a substitute, though the stew will have a lighter color and slightly less distinctive flavor than the traditional palm oil version.
Older dried beans take longer to soften -- keep simmering and topping up water as needed; adding salt too early can also slow down softening, so salt lightly at first.
Per serving (320g / 11.3 oz) · 5 servings total
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