NIGERIAN SIMPLE STEW....................

Nigerian tomato stew is one of the most popular Nigerian food recipes, it is easy to make and I would include this recipe on a list of “Nigerian simple to make foods”, Reason for this would be that the ingredients needed could be found in almost every part of the world and almost anybody can put up this stew in less than fifty minutes.
Recently I also made a video on making Nigerian tomatoes stew, this video is detailed beyond expectation; you can find it at the bottom of this page.
I promised to take you through the guide on how to lose the sour taste of tomatoes easily. Most people end up with tomato stew that has soured taste, it is very conversant but we are going to learn how to eliminate that taste, at least the way I eliminate that taste. (This same method is expounded in the Nigerian Food eguide, page 11, 12 and 13)
Ingredients For Making Nigerian Tomato stew (like I always assert, these ingredients could be doubled or reduced depending on the number of people you are looking to feed and their stomach size) This would serve about eight to ten persons.
Meat of choice (preferably fresh chicken or goat meat) I used cow tail plus assorted meat below.
1.5 Liter of ground tomatoes
About one cup of fresh pepper
2 bulbs of onions
Spices (delice, curry powder, thyme, nutmeg {seed}, others)
Vegetable (optional)
Vegetable/groundnut oil (about 15 to 20cl)
Crayfish (about 1 cup {very small} Optional)
About three cubes of maggi or knorr
Salt to taste.
Wash the tomatoes and blend alongside the fresh pepper, also blend the crayfish alongside the nutmeg seed (1).
Pour the tomato paste into a sieve and allow to sieve out the water for 30 to 60 minutes (it wouldn’t leak out if you pour gently {I do it every day}, just pour gently)
Wash the meat (chicken goat meat, beef… etc.) and parboil with desirable ingredients (I like to use lots of ingredients while parboiling the meat and then use little or none while making the real foods, this practice is necessary if you want to end up with very tasty meats. Beside you can then use the meat extract [water from the meat] for the main cooking)
Below is the image of Nigerian Tomato Stew

So just add the washed meat in a pot, add a cup or two cups of water then two to three cubes of maggi, onions and about a teaspoon of salt. Be sure that at least half of the meat is completely submerged in water. Add the ground crayfish and nutmeg after cooking for some minutes.
Cook until the meat is soft enough for consumption
Most times I chose to fry the tomatoes in a frying pan separately and then add it to the cooked meat in the pot, that is exactly how you will see it in the Nigerian Tomato Stew Video below.
Slice the onion and set your frying pan on the fire, add about 25 to 35 cl of groundnut/vegetable oil after the frying pan is dry. Add the sliced onions and fry for about 2 minutes to release the scent into the oil then pour in the tomatoes and fry (stirring occasionally to avoid burning).
This is just where most people miss it, have you made a tomato stew with sour taste? Something that tasted less than what you eat in restaurants? During the frying time is when you can either make or correct that mistake.
The secret to loosing the sour taste is in the sieving of the tomatoes and frying with lots of oil (which could be filtered out after frying – optionally) and then the use of onions (like I stated before, this method is covered in detail in the Nigerian food eguide)
Fry till the tomatoes lose its accompanying water and boils in oil alone. Then you can transfer to the main pot and add the delice (spice) or some other, add the maggi (seasoning) allow to cook for some minutes before adding the vegetable (optional and you are done with the preparation of tomato stew.
Could be served with rice, yam, beans, I even eat bread and stew often – it is delicious
Here is the video for making Nigerian tomato stew, follow this step by step video guide and also learn about all the ingredients used in making this popular Nigerian stew recipe