Whole and Ground Black Eyed Peas

Oleleh Beans


Africa, West   -   Oleleh, Ohleleh
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 2 cups
**
10 hrs
Must		 A standard ingredient in much of sub-Saharan Africa. It's used for a dish called Oleleh in Sierra Leone and Moi Moi in Nigeria, as well as in many sauces for chicken, fish and meat.
Black Eyed peas are the beans to use because they are native to Africa - all other familiar beans came from the Americas. 1 cup dry beans will yield 2 cups of finished paste. If you need less (or more) just use half the volume of dried beans for the amount you want.

1
c
Black Eyed Peas, dry  
Make   -   (10 hrs - 45 min work)
  1. Soak Black Eyed Peas in plenty of water until they are wrinkly, 8 to 10 minutes. (see Note-1).
  2. Next, the beans must be broken to release the skins. They are usually too tough to do this even with strong hands. I pound them in a big clay Thai/Laotian mortar with wooden pestel (about 10 minutes). In Africa, the mortar would be made from a piece of tree trunk. Some recent recipes say to put them in a food processor and pulse just 4 times.
  3. Fill a large shallow bowl with lots of cold water. Stir it up and give the beans just enough time to sink, then pour off the water, which should carry away much of the skins. Repeat until all beans are skin free (the black "eyes" will all be gone). With a sharp eye and pouring through your fingers you should be able to stop any white beans parts from escaping.
  4. Soak Black Eyed Peas an aditional 8 or more hours in plenty of water. Some recipes call for them to be soaked overnight in a warm room temperature so they become slightly fermented (there will be foam in the jar)
  5. Drain the beans and pound to a paste in a mortar (or by some other means). If you use a processor you will probably have to add about 3 Tablespoons of water, but that generally won't be a problem. To get a really smooth paste I sometimes process, then pound in a mortar.
NOTES:

  1. Peeling Beans:

      Some recipes say to soak the beans overnight before peeling. I have had better luck peeling them as above, when the beans are harder and denser so they don't break up so much and sink better. This makes panning easier. After panning off the skins, I often pound again to get the beans that didn't split.
  2. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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