Palaver Sauce
Palaver sauce is a delicious meal that has its origin from the West African countries, and particularly Liberia. It is often eaten with rice or other starches, such as yam. Apart from the normal way of preparation it can be prepared following the direction for Flair's Classical Palaver sauce method.
Ingredients
- 1 lb meat (e.g. stew beef), cut into ½-inch cubes
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- 3 large onions, chopped
- 3 large garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 medium-size dried red chile pepper, ground
- 2 large fresh tomatoes, diced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 lb frozen tilapia or cod fillet (or other firm white fish; optional)
- 2-inch square piece of salted cod
- 1 cup palm oil or vegetable oil
- 3 lb mixed chopped greens (e.g. kale, spinach, or mustard leaves)
- 5 oz smoked fish (e.g. mackerel)
- 1½ cup agushi seeds
- 3 fresh bay leaves (optional) (optional)
- Ground dried shrimp (optional) (optional)
Instructions
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1Combine the beef, 1 cup water, and salt. Sprinkle some of the onions, garlic, and red pepper over the beef. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then cover and cook for about 15 minutes.
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2Add the remaining onions and red pepper, along with the tomatoes, tomato paste, fish, salt cod, and palm oil. Cook for about 5–10 minutes.
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3Add the chopped greens, then stir well and let it simmer over medium heat for another few minutes.
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4While the sauce simmers, clean the smoked fish, removing the head, skin, and bones. If you notice the sauce is boiling you can reduce the heat.
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5Gently put in the smoked fish into the saucepan, and let it simmer uncovered.
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6Grind the agushi seed in a blender with an equal amount of water. Transfer the mixture to the saucepan along with the bay leaves.
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7Try to avoid stirring the contents at this point, and leave the saucepan to simmer for about another 10 minutes.
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8Uncover the saucepan and mix the sauce. After that, continue to simmer on low heat until majority of the liquid is gone.
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9Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed to your desired taste. Enjoy with any complimentary dish of your choice.
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10Cook the greens in ½–1 cup of boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain the water from the greens, setting both the greens and the water aside for later.
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11Season and steam the meat as in the above method. Set aside.
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12In a large pot, heat some oil along with some chopped onions and fresh bay leaves. Fry them over medium heat until they are browned in order to season the oil. Remove and discard the bay leaves.
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13Stir in the ground red chili pepper, frozen fish, and salted cod. Cook for 10 minutes over medium heat.
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14Stir in the tomato paste and the water from cooking the greens. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes.
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15Add the tomatoes and the cooked meat along with its juices.
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16Add the ground dried shrimp and the smoked fish (cleaned as in the above method).
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17Grind the agushi and stir it into the pot. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
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18Stir and adjust the seasonings to taste. Remove from the heat, and enjoy with any special dish of your choice.
- Category
- Soups
- Cuisine
- African
Recipe Attribution
Wikibooks Cookbook
Printed from recipe.exchange
https://recipe.exchange/recipes/wb-457627
Printed on October 30, 2026