Cameroon – Mafechoutee

by Nghonazie Annabel

Mafechoutee is a delicious meal gotten from pounding black or red kidney beans and Irish potatoes. Mafe means Irish potatoes and choutee means pounded hence the name mafechoutee. This meal originated from the people of the west region of Cameroon mostly the bamilike and the bafoussam people who consider it as one of their favorite dishes. Mafechoutee requires a lot of time to get it ready but since people love this dish so much, it can be prepared on a daily basis especially by the aforementioned set of people. This dish is delicious and just a small quantity of it can belly full you for the whole day.  This meal is prepared by boiling and pounding.

Required ingredients

1. 10 liters of irish potatoes
2. 5 cups of black kidney beans commonly referred to as country beans
3. 1 liter of red palm oil
4. Salt and maggi to taste

Cooking process

1. Select beans to remove stones, sticks and dirt from the beans and wash. Put the beans in about 5 liters of water in a pot and put on the fire
2. Add a little amount of limestone to the beans to make it get ready fast, soft and also prevent it from causing running stomach
3. Allow it on the fire for about 2-3 hours, check the water quantity regularly to make sure it doesn’t get dry
4. While the beans is cooking, peel irish potatoes and wash and put aside
5. When the beans is ready remove and drain off the water , rinse and put in a different pot and put on the fire.
6. Add the peeled irish potatoes to the beans, add maggi and salt and allow the irish potatoes to get ready
7. When it’s ready, put the pot down , pour the red oil small quantity at a time into the beans and irish potatoes and pound using a wooden pistle
8. Pound until the irish potatoes have all been mashed and smooth
9. Put back the pounded irish potatoes and beans on the fire and leave it for like 5-10 minutes
10. The delicious mafechoutee is ready
11. It is served on a plate and eaten with fingers to enjoy the originality of the meal
12. Good appetite and eat to your satisfaction