Waakye
Traditional Ghanaian waakye combines rice and black-eyed peas, cooked together in a rich wine-red broth made with sorghum leaves.
Ingredients
- long-grain white rice400 g
- dried black-eyed peas250 g
- dried sorghum leaves (waaki)5 leaf
- water1800 ml
- salt1.5 tsp
Instructions
Rinse the rice in cold water until it runs clear, then set aside. Sort through the black-eyed peas, rinse them, and put them in a large pot.
Pour 1500 ml of water over the peas, bring to a boil, and cook over medium heat for 35 minutes.
Rinse the sorghum leaves, cut them in half, and add to the peas. Cook for another 5 minutes, until the water turns deep red and the peas are half-tender; remove the leaves.
Add the rinsed rice, salt, and the remaining 300 ml of boiling water. The liquid should sit about 1 cm above the mixture; if needed, top up with a bit more of the measured 1800 ml of water.
Cover the pot tightly, reduce the heat to the lowest setting, and cook for 25 minutes without stirring, until the rice is tender and all the liquid has been absorbed.
Remove the pot from the heat, let the waakye rest covered for 10 minutes, then gently fluff with a fork and serve hot.
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