Burkina Faso – Sauce Gombo

by Bob Huyu

Sauce gombo is simply translated as Okra sauce, “gombo” means “Okra”. Although the dish is dreamed to have Okras only, it is accompanied with some varieties of seafood including cray fish or crabs and beef as meat.

Burkina Faso is a country located western part of African continent, boarded by Mali to the north, Niger to the northeast and Togo to the south.

A simple dish of Fufu and sauce gombo as seen in the picture contains crab as a sea food and okras as usual.

This is to mean the same Sauce gombo cuisine may vary from ingredients to taste. Keep in mind about the word “sauce gombo” meaning it is a sauce of okras, despite of all other seafood and spices added in.

The other way of treating this cuisine is by blending it and serve over potatoes, bananas, rice or porridge.

With careful methods, let us make this cuisine from Burkina Faso, as easy as fast. You will enjoy the results unbelievable.

Ingredients

• 2 full palms of cut okra

• 1/2 kg of beef
• 1/4 kg of crushed pistachio
• 1 onion
• 4 tomatoes
• crushed crayfish
• A branch of chopped celery
• Salt
• rock salt
• oil
• garlic

Cooking steps

• Chop onions and tomatoes. Clean meat, cut into pieces, wrap with salt (add pepper if you prefer) and cook it until ready.
• Make a paste of pistachio by mixing it with lukewarm water. Cook it in boiling water using a pot.
• Add rock salt into the bowl with okras to keep them green along the cooking procedures.
• Garnish garlic, fry on pot with onions. After 40 seconds or until onions become transparent add tomatoes and stir, cook for 3 minutes and notice tenderness in tomatoes. Add some water for soup and keep boil for 10 minutes more.
• When tomato mix is well cooked, add okra, meat and pistachio, stir well and leave it to boil for 3 to 5 minutes.
• This is the time for adding your flavors and the crayfish, if you don’t feel any flavor it is better to leave it with the crayfish only.
• Boil for about 3 minutes less.
• Our cuisine is ready for meal, enjoy.