Benin...Hot Stuff In West Africa!

I have received a new calling in life. That is the making of curry powders. I received that call after I mixed up a West African powder that raised my taste buds from the dead. A voice came from the Pits and demanded that I bring Hell upon the earth in the form of ground chili peppers. What can I do but obey?

The making of the perfect curry powder is a lifelong endeavor. The willingness to experiment boldly is the only rule. Here is how I made this particular batch. I put a tablespoon of cumin seeds, 3 tablespoons of coriander seeds and 2 tablespoons of black peppercorns in a dry skillet and heated until fragrant. This was put into a grinder, along with a teaspoon of cinnamon, a teaspoon of whole cloves, half a teaspoon of ground cardamon, 6 dried chili peppers, including the seeds and 2 teaspoons of turmeric.

After being ground to a fine powder, the above mixture was used to spice my Beninese beef stew. Four tablespoons of butter was melted in a skillet, and used to brown two pounds of angus beef cubes. I removed the meat from the skillet, and used the butter to saute a large chopped onion and five minced garlic cloves, until the onions began to brown. I added a tablespoon of flour, three tablespoons of the West African curry powder, tow teaspoons of salt, a pretty good amount of cayenne powder and four tablespoons of smooth, unsweetened peanut butter. This was heated for a minute, when twelve ounces of coconut milk was slowly stirred in, and eight ounces of water. This was stirred until it began to thicken. The meat was then added, along with 3 whole chili peppers. Cover and simmer. I simmered mine about ninety minutes; but, you can go until two hours. Twenty minutes before the end of the simmer, add severalokra with the tops cut off and about eight chunks of deep fried sweet potatoes. Make sure that you serve this on rice.

WEST AFRICAN CURRY POWDER:

1 T Cumin seed
3 T Coriander seed
2 T Black Pepper
1 t Cinnamon
1 t Cloves, whole
1/2 t Cardamon powder
6 dried Chilies, with seeds
2 t Turmeric