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Obe Ata (Red Pepper Sauce)

Obe Ata (Red Pepper Sauce) is a traditional Nigerian recipe for a classic dish of chicken in a red sauce made from a blend of bell peppers, tomatoes, chillies, and spices in a chicken stock base. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Nigerian version of: Red Pepper Sauce (Obe Ata).

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

290 minutes

Total Time:

310 minutes

Serves:

6

Rating: 4.5 star rating

Tags : CurryChilli RecipesSauce RecipesSpice RecipesChicken RecipesFowl RecipesNigeria Recipes

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This is the classic Yoruba base sauce. Often, it’s combined with mixed meat cuts (tripe, intestines, lung, liver, heart) to make a stew. It can also be used as a sauce for kitchen. This is a slightly chefy version in that the vegetables are first roasted to dry them out and intensify the flavours. Not exactly how it’s made at home, but this makes a big difference to the flavour.

Ingredients:

8 red bell peppers (about 4 1/2 pounds; 2kg), stemmed, cored, and cut into roughly 1/2-inch dice
9 tbsp red palm oil, divided
sea salt, to taste
12 medium cloves garlic (about 1 head), coarsely chopped
6 large plum tomatoes (about 800g [1 3/4 lbs), cored and quartered
2 Tatashe Romano bell peppers, halved, de-seeded, stemmed and diced
6 habanero or Scotch bonnet peppers stemmed, seeded, and cut into roughly 1cm (1/2-in) dice
2 large red onions, peeled and cut into roughly 1cm (1/2-in) dice
One 5cm (2-inch) piece of peeled fresh ginger, coarsely chopped
1 l (4 cups) homemade chicken stock or store-bought, low-sodium broth, or vegetable stock
9 tbsp (135ml) neutral-flavoured oil
1/2 teaspoon Nigerian Curry Powder, or more to taste
Ground Cameroon pepper (Piper nigrum), to taste; this yields the smokiness that is beloved in Nigerian cuisine
1.8kg (4 lbs) cooked bone-in chicken
Torn fresh holy basil leaves, for garnish (Efirin [scent leaf Ocimum gratissimum would be the traditional basil used)

Method:

Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and set oven racks in the top- and bottom-third positions. Line two rimmed baking trays with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, toss the red bell pepper with 2 tbsp palm oil and season with salt. Arrange in an even layer to one of the baking trays. In the same large bowl, toss together the garlic, tomato, tatashe (long red bell pepper), habanero, onion, and ginger with 4 tbsp palm oil. Season with salt. Arrange in an even layer to the other baking tray.

Transfer the vegetables to your pre-heated oven and roast, stirring and rotating the baking tray once or twice during cooking, until all the vegetables are tender, some of their juices have cooked off, and they are charred in spots, (about 45 minutes for the red bell peppers and 30 minutes for the tomatoes, chillies, and onions).

Scrape all of the roasted vegetables into a blender and process until either a chunky or smooth purée forms (the consistency of your obe ata is up to you; we like a smoother sauce for when it is used for stews and a chunkier one when it is used as a dip or condiment).

Transfer the vegetable purée to a cast iron casserole (Dutch oven). Stir in chicken stock, remaining 3 tbsp palm oil, vegetable oil, curry powder, and ground Cameroon pepper. Bring to a simmer, season lightly with salt, then continue to simmer until the sauce is reduced to a thickness that can coat pieces of meat well (about 1 hour). If desired, season with additional curry powder and/or Cameroon pepper to meet your preferred flavour and spice level.

If serving with chicken, add cooked chicken to the Dutch oven at this point and simmer until the chicken is warmed through, about 15 minutes. Serve with warm rice and garnish with torn basil leaves (if desired).

Alternatively, you can continue to cook down the sauce until it thickens to a dip-like consistency, (about 3 hours); in this case, the oils will separate from the sauce. You can also fry the vegetable purée, deepening its flavour even further.