Banku and Tilapia with Peppers Stew

Banku and Tilapia with Peppers Stew is as traditional and favorite dish as it gets in Ghana!

(Photo Attributed to Author: Jake Brown)

Banku and Tilapia with Peppers Stew Recipe-

Ingredients:

one whole tilapia fish (if you can get it, fresh and whole, great. If not, you can use two tilapia filets)
1 tomato, rough chopped
1 cup of hot peppers, the Ghanaians use Kpakpo Shito (also called scotch bonnets), so use them if you can
1 cup of chopped onion
4 large cloves fresh garlic, fine chopped
1 Maggi cube (special African seasoning cube, and an absolute must-have ingredient, for authentic results)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Grille or broil your whole tilapia, or tilapia filets.
Either use a blender or food processor to mash and blend a cup of chopped onions and a cup of hot peppers. (Note: if you really want the true African cooking experience, you can do this using a mortar and pestle).
Add and stir in the chopped tomatoes and peppers, and blend some more.
Pour some cooking oil into a sauce pan and bring the heat up to medium high.
Pour the blended mixture into the sauce pan.
Crush the Maggi Cube and put it into the cooking mixture. Reduce heat to just a simmer.
Add some salt and pepper to taste.
Stir all ingredients together well, cover the pan, and bring the stew to a vigorous simmer, keep cooking until all the juice from the tomatoes is cooked out, and you are left with a very thick, spicy stew.
Serve your Banku and Tilapia with Peppers Stew as follows:

Place the fish and peppers on one plate, with a fist-sized ball of banku on one side of the side dish, and always provide a bowl of fresh clean water, some hand soap, and a drying linen, because you eat this delightful meal with your hands. The banku is your “edible utensil” – you break off small pieces, mold it into a soft little cup shape, then use that to scoop up the stew or break off a piece of fish, then pop the whole delightful morsel in your mouth. YUMMY!