Hello wonderful people!
Today, I have come to share with you something beautiful and unique. It’s the marriage of two cultures and
two hobbies. The cultures being the; Beninese 
and Nigerian 
cultures and the hobbies being; food and travel.
That combination always bangs, right?
- A flier showcasing two different plating of a particular meal. In the background is a flag of the Benin republic which is where the meal originates from
Well, during one of my travels last year, I met a lady who is from the Benin republic . Nigeria borders
Benin republic to the east. Both are neighboring countries in West Africa. It was from this lady I learnt how to make this special mashed beans (brown eyed beans/honey beans) and chili pepper sauce.
The name of the recipe is derived from the Yoruba language word for cooked beans; “Ẹ̀wà” and the name of the Beninese tribe from which the recipe is derived; “Aganyin/Agoyin”. Does it not interest you to know that the Yoruba language is spoken both inside and outside Nigeria ? That’s a story for another day and one for the history books but you can read about this online.
Ewa Aganyin or Ewa Agoyin as many people spell it, is a special kind of mashed beans native to the Aganyin people of Benin Republic but enjoyed by people across West Africa. Nigerians love ewa aganyin!
It is made using rather simple and easy to find ingredients;
- Beans
- Chili Pepper
- Onion
- Palm oil
- Salt
- Stock cubes
- The Beans used in this recipe
- Dried chili pepper and red onions
- Palm oil
- Stock cubes
RECIPE
- Sort out the shaft from the beans, rinse the beans and put it on fire.
- Once the beans has come to a boil and is tender enough to crush between your fingers, drain out the water, add in new water that covers the beans to about 3cm, add in salt and stock cubes and cover it. Leave the beans to cook until it soaks up all of the water
- Once the water is dry, using a wooden spatula, mash the beans
- After which, you prepare the chili pepper sauce. The sauce is a coarse sauce, so it is better to use a food chopper for the onions and pepper. To the onions and pepper mix, you add in a little of the mashed beans and process it all
- You turn your oil into a frying pan and begin to fry until the pepper changes from its characteristic red color to a dark brown/black color. You add in your salt and seasoning cubes, allow to cool and serve
You can enjoy this meal alone, but many people love to have it with bread or fried plantain.
- Ewa Aganyin with Aganyin sauce and fried plantain
- Ewa Aganyin, Aganyin Sauce, bread and a bottle of banana‐flavored soya milk
In this video, I share the secret to getting the special Chili pepper sauce just right as I learnt it from a native of Benin !
Have you had Ewa aganyin before? Did you like it?
Can you find this kind of beans in an African store around you, if you intend trying this recipe and you react to chili pepper, you can add in some tomato paste to reduce the intensity
P.S. The ewa in my name doesn’t stand for Beans, it stands for beauty, same spelling but the accent mark differentiates the two 
Please leave your comments below, let me know what you think about this post. Thank you
