It's been so cold and raining all day, quite comfy inside but very messy outside. Watching winter approaching with full force makes me really sad and the worst is that there is nothing anyone can do about it other than finding a way of keeping yourself cozy and warm. Besides, being the first working day of year 2016, many things happened today and time seems to have started flying as well.
A lot took place last year and more are yet to happen this year 2016 but we can only remain optimistic that more of positive things are going to happen. I am overly excited to be sharing one of my mummy's best dishes; fio-fio (pigeon peas). She made me fall in love with this dish that is packed with most of my favourite ingredients.
Delicious fio-fio (pigeon peas) dish, combined with yam and onion sauce! So Yummy :-P
Watch this interesting video on how to prepare the fio-fio dish!!!
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A little bit of what pigeon pea is all about - Pigeon pea is a tropical and subtropical perennial legume that belongs to the family of Fabaceae. This leguminous crop is originally from Asia, Africa and Latin America before spreading to other parts of the world and it is mainly consumed due to its high protein content.
Different countries have different names for the pigeon pea such as; mgbụmgbụ, no-eye pea, mbaazi, red gram, rahar daal (रहर दाल) in Nepali, Tuvaram paruppu in Tamil, Cajanus cajan, tropical green pea, gungo pea, nandolo in Malawi, Kandhi pappu in Telugu, gandule bean, mzimbili mussa in Tanzania, Togari bele in Kannada, chícharo or gandul (guandu) in Latin America, kardis in Malawi, pelau in Grenada, Tobago and Trinidad, Congo pea and arveja in Ecuador.
If you've tried this recipe before, then you will concur with me that a pot of cooked fio-fio is the right place to throw in some flavourful sauteed onions, spicy hot pepper, salt and some stock cubes and you have a super drooling and tantalizing meal. The ingredients complement each other quite well as the colourful appearance, fragrance and texture of the final product entices your taste-bud. Honestly, this was a perfect main meal to prepare while unpacking from the long holidays and trying to hold on to the early days of year 2016.
If you have all the key ingredients and want an uncommon, healthy and delicious meal for any time of the week, then I highly recommend this special dish.
To prepare this dish with much ease, I usually soak the peas overnight so as to get the peas a little bit softened by the time I am ready to cook. But you are still free to cook straight away without soaking but then you need to use either a pressure cooker or a food tenderizer known as potash.
Once the pigeon peas are softened, gently mash and cook together with the yam and a little bit of water until the yam is cooked. While this is going on, quickly get the onion and pepper sauce ready by slightly heating up the palm oil and sauteing the onions, pepper with salt and stock cubes.
By the time the yam is properly cooked, then add the sauteed onions and pepper into the cooked pigeon peas and stir properly.
If you are still considering whether to include the pigeon peas in your diet or not then think no further because several studies have revealed that the pigeon peas are an excellent source of essential vitamins and minerals that are beneficial to our health.
Some of these vitamins and minerals include; Dietary fiber, Thiamine (B1), Carbohydrates, Pantothenic acid (B5), Riboflavin (B2), Choline, Protein, Niacin (B3), Folate (B9), Zinc, Calcium, Phosphorus, Vitamin E, Vitamin B6, Iron, Magnesium, Potassium, Manganese, Vitamin C and Vitamin K. Fio-fio (pigeo pea) is also a great energy booster.
Moreover, here are some other amazing health benefits of pigeon peas that might interest you to know; studies reveal that including pigeon peas in our diets offer great protection to the liver.
Pigeon pea is easily digestible, so any time you are consuming it, do endeavour to drink plenty of water. Boiled pigeon peas leaves and water from boiled pigeon peas are used in folk medicine for treating dysentery and diarrhea.
Pigeon pea leaves can be boiled and used for treating measles and chicken pox. Both the seeds, leaves and shoots contain both antimicrobial and anthelmintic properties thus eating pigeon peas helps to destroy intestinal worms that thrive in the digestive tracts.
You have quite a lot to gain from eating the pigeon pea and it is equally affordable. One other good thing about it is that it is very tasty on its own hence you can easily improvise if you have one or two ingredients missing. Although it takes quite a long time to cook properly but I can assure you that the dish is definitely worth the long wait.
Healthy, nutritious and delicious - - - three of my key food attributes!
Give the recipe a try and you will definitely enjoy every bit of it and please share your opinions with us on the comment section.
Many thanks
Ingredients:
- 2 cups fio-fio (pigeon peas)
- ½ small tuber of yam, peeled, washed and cut
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ fresh pepper, sliced
- 4 tablespoons palm oil
- 2 beef stock cubes
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 akanwu (potash)
Instructions:
- Separate the fio-fio pigeon peas from dirts and stones, wash properly with clean water then soak overnight. Alternatively, you can cook without soaking overnight but this will cause the peas to take a longer time before getting done.
- Once the fio-fio has been soaked overnight, wash properly and add in a clean pot.
- Pour hot water into the fio-fio, add akanwu (potash) then allow to cook until the peas are tender. B It takes a long time before the peas get properly cooked so always top up with water until the peas are tender.
- Decant the initial water used for cooking the peas, gently mash the peas in a mortar then add the pigeon peas back into the pot.
- Add the cut yams, pour 600ml water, add salt then continue cooking until the yams are soft then bring down from heat.
- Slightly heat up the palm oil, add the onions, pepper, stock cubes and salt then saute properly.
- Add the sauteed onions into the cooked fio-fio, stir properly to combine then serve warm.
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