Waakye recipe

Rice and beans stained deep red-brown by dried sorghum leaves simmered in the cooking water before anything else goes in.

13 hours and 30 minutesmedium6 ingredients

Ingredients

• 5 dried sorghum leaves
• 200 g black eyed peas
• 300 g rice
• 0.5 tsp baking soda
• 1200 ml water
• 1 tsp salt

How to make Waakye

1. Soak 200 g of black eyed peas in cold water overnight, then drain them.
2. Rinse 5 dried sorghum leaves quickly and cut them into 8 cm pieces; the colour starts running the moment they get wet.
3. Simmer the leaves alone in 1.2 L of water for 25 minutes until the liquid turns deep red-brown, then lift them out and throw them away. This coloured water is the whole dish.
4. Add the drained peas and half a teaspoon of baking soda to that water and cook 30 minutes until the peas are almost tender; the baking soda softens them and fixes the colour.
5. Add 300 g of rinsed rice and 1 teaspoon of salt, topping up with water so the liquid sits 2 cm above the grains.
6. Cover and cook on the lowest heat for 20 to 25 minutes without stirring, until all the liquid is absorbed.
7. Rest off the heat 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork so the grains separate.
8. Serve with shito, a tomato stew, gari, boiled egg, spaghetti and fried plantain.

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