Bamilike, Cameroon – Koki Beans

By Verdzekov Bernard

A cuisine is a particular traditional cooking habit often associated with a particular culture. Usually, with traditional cooking local ingredients are usually used. This local ingredient which are used often represent the culture from which the people come from. People and represented by the various cuisine the cook or eat often in Cameroon. Amongst the many traditional dishes, we have in Cameroon, koki is one of them. Koki is a meal cooked and eating mostly by the Bamilike people of Cameroon. this meal varies with preparation amongst the other regions of Cameroon. The meal is a very heavy dish and usually accompanied with water during consumption. The meal could be served with ripe plantains, or sweet potatoes.

INGREDIENTS

• Koki beans
• Red oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Plantain leaves
• Cullender
• Mortar

Procedure

• Put water on the fire. About 10-15cups.
• Sock koki beans for about 6hrs to cool until it gets socked and soft. This is before preparation.
• Remove from water, peel and wash
• Use a cullender or a sieve to wash, sieve and separate the chaffs from the beans.
• Reins with clean water until all the chaffs comes out
• Drain the water, put another, wash and scrub with both hands to remove all dirt. When you are sure that the beans seats are clean, you drain, take it to a grinding mill.
• Put the already grind koki paste inside a mortar, put pepper and salt into the paste. Stair the paste until it rises and becomes fluffy
• Warm plantain leaves in direct fire until they are semi dark and green in color, then you cut into desired sizes.
• After cutting, spread the leaf on a plate or tray. Use a spoon to dish the koki beans paste from the mortar into the spread leaf/leaves. Use plantains or a tiny rope to tie the leaves with the koki paste.
• Put boiling water into the pot and put cookie on it and close pot living the pot to cook for about 1hr. Make sure you check pot to make sure the water doesn’t dry. Add if necessary. After 1hr check koki by removing one from the pot of many, open from the tied head, and check. If not ready close and put back into the pot living it for the desired time suspected it will get ready by then. This could be 15min, 35 or even 45min.
• When it is ready, allow it get cold for some time before you serve.

To conclude, it will be good to note that, during preparation of this meal, maggi is not used. This is because, adding maggi causes the paste not to rise and have a good texture. So, in place of maggi and throughout the preparation, just salt is used. Make sure you put salt just to taste and not so much of it.

ENJOY YOUR MEAL.