MUST YOUR STEWS BE RED? EXPLORING ALTERNATIVES TO TOMATO SAUCE /STEWS

Vegetable soup

Nigerians are stuck in a food rut. We love to cook and eat the same kind of foods day in, day out. All our meals tend to be accompanied with tomato sauce/stews. Tomatoes are at the base of most of our popular stews and soups. The average Nigerian adult is so comfortable with the familiar, we are reluctant to try out new meals in the kitchen. Our meals look the same, taste the same and are prepared the same way, all the time. Our daily meals are limited to two primary colours, if you don't believe me, look down to your plate right now. Your plate of food needs to have all the colours of the rainbow, especially, deep green. When it comes to life, Nigerians are bold and loud; and boy, do we love 'faaji'(to party, celebrate and basically, have fun)! But when it comes to foods, we tend to stick to the familiar and generally play it safe.

The exorbitant cost and scarcity of tomatoes in the country came as a huge, unpleasant shock to all Nigerians. Presently, one would literally have to break a bank to even be able to afford a few pieces of tomatoes. This is largely due to the ravage of the tomato plants by a blight called 'Tuta absoluta' or nicknamed 'tomato ebola' in six tomato producing States in the north. This plant disease is stubborn, difficult to control and resistant to pesticide treatments. Majority of the tomato traders have moved on to purchase and sell other more readily available vegetables. Nigerians are feeling the brunt and at a loss of what to do, because tomatoes are a staple here. It is at the heart of basically all our stews and sauces.

The food crisis can be assessed from a positive standpoint;an opportunity to try out new things, familiarize yourself with new tastes and get creative in the kitchen. Your stews and sauces don't always have to be red or have tomatoes in them. There are a lot of tasty and equally nutritious alternatives. Let's look at some easy to prepare stews and sauces that, thankfully, do not require tomatoes. Alleluia!

Garden egg stew/sauce is a favourite of many, especially when eaten with boiled white yam or boiled plantain. Garden egg stew is an excellent choice this season for a number of reasons. The first is that garden egg, whether white, green or purple, is rich in antioxidants and minerals such as Fibre, copper, manganese, potassium, vitamin B1&6,folate, magnesium and various other nutrients. The second reason is that the main ingredient, which is garden eggs, are cheap and in season from August to October and best news of all, this stew does not require tomatoes. For a tasty garden egg stew, you need your garden eggs of course, a few tablespoons of Palm oil, smoked fish, atarodo or dried pepper, iru (locust beans), onions, crayfish and salt to taste. To prepare, simple boil the washed garden eggs whole for ten minutes until soft. You can either peel off the skin or keep and blend it with the rest of the garden eggs in a blender or mortar into a smooth paste. Heat up the palm oil and when hot, add the chopped onions and rinsed Iru. Stir fry in the oil for three minutes before adding the pureed garden eggs, smoked fish, atarodo, crayfish and seasonings. Stir and leave to cook for a few minutes. Serve with boiled, roasted or fried yams or boiled plantain.

Do you know that coconut milk can be used as a base for your stews instead of tomatoes or oil. Coconut milk is an excellent and nutritious food tenderizer. Just boil your washed and seasoned( with ginger, onions, garlic, salt and pepper) chicken parts in some fresh coconut milk. The coconut milk makes the chicken super tender and helps the flavour infuse deeply into the chicken. Cook until the stock is thick and the chicken slightly brown. You can add chopped lettuce leaves or any vegetable of your choice after removing the pot from the heat, to give it a brilliant but healthy green colour. Leave to steam before serving.

Replace your tomatoes with plenty of dark orange carrots (the main ingredient in this sauce) and spicy and non spicy red bell peppers (atarodo, tatase, sombo). Blend it with onions, ginger and garlic. Fry it in an heart friendly oil before adding your chopped, seasoned and cooked meat, chicken or fish with a few tablespoons of the stock, ensure the sauce remains thick. Stir and fry slightly, so the vegetables are not over cooked. The carrots should give this sauce a natural and beautiful orange colour.

Another excellent sauce to try is the chopped meat and vegetable sauce. The main ingredient in this sauce is your vegetables (green beans, green pepper and carrots), so buy a lot of these vegetables. To prepare, chop or blend some red bell peppers, atarodo and sombo, with your fresh spices - garlic, onoins and ginger- and then add your chopped or diced green pepper, green beans and carrots. Fry it quickly in a heart friendly oil before adding your cooked, chopped into small pieces and seasoned meat with a little stock and steam briefly over medium heat. Try not to overcook the vegetables. The sauce will have a healthy deep green look, with a great aroma and taste.

The ofada stew is great with the local brown rice. It is a delicacy quite popular with the Yorubas(a tribe from the Southwestern part of Nigeria). It is prepared with mostly green atarodo, few red bell peppers (tatase), iru(locust beans), beef, assorted meat(saki, pomo, cow intestines), fresh spices(garlic, ginger and onions), seasoning cubes, salt and palmoil. To prepare, wash the beef, especially the assorted parts, thoroughly inside out, scrapping out the dirt and excess fats with a knife or with hot water. Dice it into small bits, season and cook till tender and then set aside. Remove the seeds from the green bell peppers and red bell peppers, then rinse it out thoroughly with clean water. Blend into a puree and cook in a pot until all the water dries up and it is thick and concentrated. Fry the onoins and rinsed Iru(locust beans) in the hot and bleached palmoil first for three minutes before adding the pureed pepper. Fry until it is thick, separate from the oil and dry. Add the crayfish, cooked and diced assorted parts and beef and a little of the stock, so it still maintains its thick consistency. Taste and see if the salt and seasonings are alright. Keep on stirring while frying in high heat to ensure the pepper doesn't burn. Take it off the stove and leave to simmer for a few minutes before serving.

If you absolutely love your tomato sauce/stews and don't feel you can live without it or feel quite ready to explore new tastes, then the packaged tomato paste is your best bet. There are quite a number of great brands out there, sold in sachets and tins and are very affordable. The prices, thankfully, have not risen much. Be careful with your choice of brands, because some of the tomato paste brands imported into the country are substandard and might cause serious health hazards. Other downsides to them are that they can be too concentrated, acidic with a high sodium content. To be on the safe side, cook your tomato paste well before consumption and try to go for the dark-red ones as opposed to the bright red ones.