Aricots rouge ,Begniets, et Condiment Camerounais (Cameroonian Red beans, doughnuts, Condiment
Beignet (African doughnuts)
3 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups of water
1 packet of yeast (or 2 1/4 teaspoon)
1/3 cups of sugar
1/8 teaspoon of salt
Condiment (Piment)
1 bunch of parsley
1 bunch of green onions
1 small bunch of basil
1 small onion
2-3" of ginger
2-4 habaneros
1-2 sticks of celery ( optional)
3-4 maggi cube
~1 - 1 1/2 cup peanut oil (or other flavorless oil)
Les Haricots Rouge (red beans)
1 lb dried red beans
1 onion
1 head garlic, peeled, chopped
1 - 2" ginger, peeled, chopped or grated
1 habanero (optional), chopped
1 15 oz can chopped tomatoes
4 maggi cube
oil
As a kid my mom was always trying to connect me to my African culture. She did that in a lot of ways like teaching me French (which is one of the main languages of Cameroon), she made me wear traditional African clothing and she cooked for me.
Often as a young kid I would wake up on weekends and smell the spicy smell of piment, a spicy green sauce that is often described by Americans as “spicy pesto”. My mom would cook it by blending parsley, onions, basil, ginger and habaneros. Just by blending the ingredients together the strong smell of parsley and ginger would roam through the air all the way to my room. After 15 minutes of simmering I would be so excited to try the piment and see if it was spicy enough for me because my mom would never make it spicy enough so it would taste like something was missing.
While the piment was simmering my mom would make beans and beignets (African doughnut). She would soak the beans overnight, then in the morning she would heat oil, add onion, garlic, ginger, and habanero and she’d stir continuously. As the fragrance got stronger she added tomatoes. I would normally come down from my room at this point in the morning due to the strong aroma of garlic and ginger.After we said our good mornings she would add the beans and maggi and stir gently, being careful not to break up the beans. While letting beans cook for ~30 minutes she would let me tell her about any dreams I had and sometimes try to get me to wear brightly colored African clothing to send pictures of me and the beautiful spread of food to my relatives in Africa.
The last step was to make the beignets. I was never interested in the process of dissolving the yeast into water, then adding flour,water,sugar,and salt. I liked watching the piles of ingredients turning into a doughy creamy consistency. Watching my mom's hands knead through the sticky and stretchy dough was so much fun. I liked it because it was a grown up playing with what looked like playdough! After letting the dough rest for a couple of hours I was exhilarated seeing the bubbles forming on the dough because that meant it was time to fry it. My mom never let me near the hot oil on the stove, so I was always just left marveling at the way she formed dough balls in her hand and carefully placed them in the pot without burning herself. After the dough balls had turned a beautiful golden brown in the oil they were officially beignets.
“ Va lave te mains, c’est l’heure à manger!( Go wash your hands, its time to eat!)" I would rush to the bathroom and wash my hand while my mouth was watering at the thought of scooping the beans and piment with the beignets.