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Banku with Okro Stew (Fermented Dough with Mucilaginous Okra Stew)

Name: Banku with Okro Stew (Fermented Dough with Mucilaginous Okra Stew)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 85 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Ghana
Ingredients: 300 g fermented corn dough; 150 g fermented cassava dough (agbelima); 400 g fresh okra, finely chopped; 100 ml zomi or unrefined red palm oil; 30 g momoni (fermented salted fish); 250 g beef sirloin or chuck, cut into cubes and pre-boiled; 2 piece smoked salmon or mackerel fillets, cleaned; 200 g fresh ocean crab or whole shrimp, cleaned; 2 piece medium red onions, finely sliced; 3 piece fresh scotch bonnet peppers, blended; 3 piece ripe tomatoes, blended; 1200 ml water (divided); 1 tsp fine salt

Stretchy sour fermented corn and cassava dumplings served alongside rich palm-oil seafood okra stew.

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The story

Banku and okro stew represents the culinary pinnacle of Ga and Ewe coastal traditions. The sourness from lactic fermentation in the corn and cassava dough perfectly offsets the viscous richness of the okra, scented with pungent momoni (fermented fish) and unrefined red palm oil.

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