Making Ghana’s garden egg stew

on September 5, 2015 at 9:10 am

Garden egg stew is one of the most popular stews in Ghana. It has the African egg plant commonly known as garden eggs or (known in Ghana as nyadua in the Twi language, s3b3 in Ga, ntrowa in Fanti and Agbitsa in Ewe and solanum aethiopicum in Latin) as its main ingredient. Strictly speaking this egg plant is actually a fruit, but in the preparation of this stew it is used as a vegetable. It is similar to tomatoes in that it has very small edible seeds and a thin outer layer that can be peeled off if need be in cooking the stew. Some prefer to leave the skin on.

The “egg” in garden egg stew comes from the fact that the colour, size and the oval shape of the garden egg is similar to that of an egg. As a food ingredient garden eggs are easy to find in Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Senegal and in other countries across Africa. Even though traditionally it is said to bring blessings to those who use it in preparing their dishes, it is now touted more as a weight loss ‘vegetable’ .

For me the taste of a sumptuously made garden egg stew is what draws me to this egg plant. I grew up having it with either ripe or unripe boiled plantain (In Ghana the unripe boiled plantain is called apim ampesi) or and boiled yam.

In Ghana the garden egg stew and Kontomire stew are often collectively known as “abomu” in Akan areas which is where both meals’ origins can be traced. There is nothing as good as ampesi and garden eggs stew at lunch time or as dinner.

Get the recipe for Ghana’s garden egg stew

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Garden egg stew with boiled yam and plantain on 24 September, 2015 at 06:49
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[…] Life as they say passes in a blur. One day you are young, your whole life revolved around your small village, probably eating garden egg stew with boiled yam and plantain in the front yard or compound of the family house with your brothers, sisters, aunties, uncles, grandparents (well everybody), the next you are preparing garden egg stew with boiled yam and plantain in London (UK) with produce bought from local supermarkets. The fact that I can get these produce and ingredients several thousand miles away from their origin is testament to the new world in which we live in. It has never shrunk in size but it feels smaller even in my short life span on it. The fact that the demand for the produce and ingredients for making garden egg stew with boiled yam and plantain is high enough for sharp eyed entrepreneurs to import these from West Africa is testament that garden egg stew with boiled yam and plantain has stood the test of not only time but enormous distances. Boiling yam and plantains is easy enough but the garden egg stew requires a bit of finesse and know how to recreate that authentic taste that our forefathers craved so much. If like me, once in a while, you wonder what culinary delights the garden egg stew with boiled yam and plantain must have brought them, then click on the link below. Making Ghana’s garden egg stew. […]