National Dishes of the World

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Ndolé
Photo: Coco lago, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

main dish

Ndolé

A rich stew of bitter leaves, ground groundnuts, beef and prawns – Cameroon’s national dish.

Eaten in: Cameroon

Prep
40 min
Cooking
1 h 40 min
Resting
8 h
Total
10 h 20 min
Servings
6

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About the dish

Ndolé is a Cameroonian stew made from the leaves of the shrub of the same name (bitter leaf), which are distinctly bitter and so are washed and blanched several times before cooking. The leaves are combined with a creamy paste of boiled, ground groundnuts, beef, prawns or smoked fish, onion and garlic, then finished with hot oil. The result is at once gently bitter, nutty and meaty. It is served with miondo or bobolo cassava sticks, fried plantains or rice, especially on Sundays and at celebrations.

Main ingredients

  • bitter leaves (ndolé)
  • groundnuts
  • beef
  • prawns
  • onion
  • garlic
  • oil

Cameroon: It comes from the Duala people of the coast and is now regarded as Cameroon’s national dish.

More: Wikipedia (en)

Recipe

Ndolé

https://foodmap.ominuvo.com/dish/ndole

Ingredients

6 servings

6 servings

Method

  1. Soak the dried leaves overnight, then boil them for 15 minutes in salted water, drain and rinse, squeezing, until the water runs clear and the bitterness softens; repeat if needed.

  2. Soak the groundnuts overnight, boil them in fresh water until soft (about 30 minutes) and blend with a little water to a smooth paste.

  3. Cube the beef and simmer it with half the onions, the garlic, ginger and salt for about an hour until tender; keep the broth.

  4. Stir the groundnut paste into the meat with 300 ml of broth and cook for 15 minutes, stirring often so it does not catch.

  5. Add the squeezed leaves and the chilli, stir and cook for 10 minutes more, seasoning with salt.

  6. In a separate pan heat the oil and fry the remaining onion, sliced, with the prawns for 3–4 minutes.

  7. Pour the hot oil with the prawns and onion into the pot, stir and serve with miondo, plantains or rice.

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