Cameroon – White Rice and Groundnut Soup

by Nghonazie Annabel

White rice and groundnut soup is consider in Cameroon as a poor man’s dish, this consideration is mostly heard in big towns in Cameroon such as Yaoundé, Douala, Llimbe and Buea. The reason they say rice and groundnut soup is a poor man’s dish is because it’s one of the cheapest meal common in these towns as groundnut is cheap so is rice. With just a cup of groundnut bought at 50 FRS cfa, a pot of groundnut soup can be prepare. A family can prepare rice and groundnut soup even four times a week, or prepare it on Monday heat it on Tuesday, reheat it on Wednesday and finally add water and sometimes oil to the rest of the soup and its eaten again on Thursday. All these practices made people to name this dish a poor man’s dish. This appellation is anyways only heard in towns because in the village groundnut soup and rice is a special dish. Putting aside this attribution, rice and groundnut soup is a delicious meal and very nutritious since it contains all the classes of nutrients. It is widely prepared all over Cameroon’s national territory especially in the east, north, far north and extreme north.

Cooking method

White rice is groundnut soup is prepared by boiling and stewing

Ingredients

• 2 cups of raw groundnuts
• 5 cups of white rice
• ½ kg of cow meat
• 250g vegetable oil
• 8 fresh tomatoe1 large onions
• green spices
• 5 cloves of garlics
• Njinja
• 10 grains of njansang
• White pepper, grain de riz (in small quantities)
• 1 large green pepper
• Cameroon hot pepper
• Salt and Maggi

Cooking process of groundnut soup

• Wash meat and cut into desirable slices and boil
• Fry groundnut and grind using a grinding machine and put aside
• Slice tomatoes, onions, green spices and put aside
• Blend white pepper, garlics , njinja, green pepper, njansang, hot pepper, grain de riz and some green spices and put aside
• Put vegetable oil in a pot and warm it a little
• Add slice tomatoes, onions and green spices and stir until its well fried
• Add the ground groundnut and stir continuously until the mixture is homogenous
• Add 2 cups of water and stir, allow to boil for 10 minutes
• After 10 minutes add the blended spices and boiled meat
• Add a cup of water or two depending on how thick or light you want the soup to be and then add the meat stock to too
• Add Maggi and salt and stir. Cover the pot and allow it to cook for another 30 minutes
• Groundnut soup is ready

Cooking process of white rice

• Wash the white rice and pour into 3 cups of boiling water
• Add small quantity of salt and taste to make sure it doesn’t get too salty
• Stir the rice in the water and allow to boil
• Check regularly to see if water has dried up and add if it’s the case
• After about 30 minutes check if the rice is ready and put off the fire if so

Rice and groundnut soup is ready. It is saved hot since the flavor and the taste is gotten when the meal is still hot. Enjoy your meal and don’t forget to drink water after eating