Beninese Jollof Rice

Ingredients:

200g dried black-eyed beans
2 medium aubergines (eggplants)
1.5 tbsp oil
3 tbsp ginger, freshly-grated
2 hot chillies, roasted and finely chopped
10 tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp West African Curry Powder
hot pepper sauce, to taste
3l water
1 tsp salt
2 large onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1.5 tbsp tomato purée
500g carrots, cleaned and sliced into rounds
500g green beans, trimmed
320g rice

Method:

Soak the black-eyed beans over night in plenty of water. Drain the following day, place in a pan and cover with 2l water. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Drain (reserve the water for coking). Slice the aubergines into rounds about 1.5cm thick and place in a colander. Salt liberally and allow to drain for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile heat the oil in a large pan. Add the drained aubergine, 1 tsp of the chopped onion, 1 tbsp of the ginger, 1 chilli, 1 garlic clove and the bell pepper. Fry, stirring all the while, until the aubergine has browned (about 5 minutes) then remove the aubergine from the mix and set aside.

At this point add the remaining onion, ginger, chilli, garlic, reserved bean cooking water, tomatoes, tomato purée, cayenne pepper and chilli powder. Stir everything to combine then add hot pepper sauce, to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes before adding the black-eyed beans, carrots and the rice.

Allow to simmer for a further 5 minutes then add the green beans and cooked aubergine. Simmer for a further 15 minutes, uncovered. Cover the pot and simmer for a further 20 minutes then serve.