By now if you are West African, you would have heard the “mad over you” song. In this song, the artist Runtown describes a Ghanian girl that wants to marry him. He also says he hopes she can cook waakye. I was listening to the song and then it occurred to me that I had not uploaded a waakye recipe and this is something i eat quite often. How could I not have uploaded it. I then figured that the best day to upload this recipe is Ghana’s 60th independence day. It’s only right I honour our neighbours as they celebrate this amazing milestone.
Waakye is very similar to the Jamaican Rice and Peas but in making Waakye, the redness of the rice and beans are obtained from the sorghum millet stalks. I haven’t noticed that they add any particular taste to the dish. Zobo I assume would give you the same colour however, your rice and beans would come out tasting very tangy because of the zobo leaves. I suggest sticking to the sorghum millet stalks. Waakye is typically served with pasta, boiled egg, shito, avocado and any other protein of choice. I decided to keep mine simple and present it in a deconstructed way. A recipe for shito would go out later in the week. In the mean time you can serve your waakye with any spicy sauce you have.
Recipe for Waakye
Ingredients
1.5 Cups of Parboiled Rice
1.5 Cups of Beans
5 Stalks of Sorghum Millet Stalks
1 teaspoon of baking soda
Seasoning cube (optional)
Method
Wash your rice and beans separately and set aside.
Rinse the sorghum millet stalks, fold and tie together and set aside.
In a pot bring about 3-4 cups of water to boil. Add the beans and the sorghum millet stalks into the pot of boiling water.
Sprinkle the baking soda into the pot and allow to boil.
When the beans has boiled for about 15-20 minutes on medium heat and is soft, add the rice into the pot and allow to steam till soft.
If you would like to add seasoning cube or salt, you can add it at the stage you are adding the rice.
When water dries up and the rice and beans are equally soft, take out the stalks and serve the waakye.
Serve the waakye with shito, spaghetti, boiled egg, avocado or any other side of your choice.
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