Thumpy Rose This healthy African plant-based bowl has so much to love and flavors to savor. Taro, cassava, and plantain, dressed with tasty but easy tomato gravy- seitan adds protein while keeping the red gravy totally vegetarian. Find other easy plant-based meals for beginners here. In addition to eddoes root health benefits, a blend of roots and tubers in a dish is undoubtedly very nutritious. Plus, this is one of the many Liberian recipes you can fix on a low budget. Follow the video tutorial for details on how to cook cassava root, taro, and plantain. One of the easy West African food recipes that is a must-try.
Dis food sweet no be small…
PS- Grab a hold of the recipe card for our extra nutritional tip when preparing plantain 🙂
Related: West African Root Vegetables Soup
Video Tutorial
Best Tomato Gravy with Cassava Eddo and Plantain
Cassava gravy is a popular Liberian African food. So, that means many natives know How to cook cassava root. Monrovia street vendors sell it during breakfast and lunch hours. For meat and fish lovers, this dish contains many ways to explore!
There are countless versions of this succulent feast. Easy tomato gravy can be paired with a variety of carbs. We all know how carbs are essential for daily life. Tomato is the basic ingredient in most West African food recipes. We used tomato paste to make our cassava gravy but you can blend your fresh tomatoes instead. You can also make it moderately hot or spicy, which depends on the quantity of pepper you use. Besides the taste, studies show that habanero pepper is loaded with vitamin C and carries anti-inflammatory properties. Served over boiled plantain, cassava, and eddo, it is a flavorful, irresistible, and popular among Liberian recipes. Not forgetting eddoes root health benefits on our bodies.
I love how we have different words for the same thing. On the continent, it is called Cassava, whereas, in Latin America, it is called Yuca. In Liberia, we call it Eddo and in parts of Asia, they call it Taro.
Plantain-Taro-Cassava
Gentle reminder, we will always have food in common even though we call them different names. Join Humble Vege and let us explore African foods together.
Related: Yellow Split Peas Soup & Bulgar wheat
Great Ingredients Make Great Food
Even with the best culinary experience, it’s a fact that great meals require more than just skills. After learning how to cook cassava root, for example, you need to get fresh and vibrant cassava roots to make a tasty meal. In other words, better quality ingredients result in a dish worth remembering.
Your top pick should be getting your ingredients from a busy grocery store or market. A busy market implies quick product turnover before they go bad.
Then, they should be free from blemishes, soft spots, or wrinkling. Freshly cut taro should be pinkish or whitish-green at the stem end. Ripped plantain should not have dark spots on the skin. Fresh cassava should be snowy white when cut. As a basic rule of thumb, they should all feel firm and smell fresh.
Related: Carbohydrates Offer Great Benefits
That said, don’t sweat it. If it looks appetizing, it should be good to eat. Besides, you can find them peeled, cut, and packed in the frozen section if your supermarket stock them. No wahala, the goal is a tasty meal, abi?
Why this Liberian food is worth a try
A very affordable and top from Liberian recipes that anyone can recreate no matter who or where you are with the same results. The ingredients are so easy to find. Again, you can make your own version of our easy tomato gravy to suit your taste buds. And we’ll show you precisely how to cook cassava root. Please take a photo of what you create and tag us on social media, @humveg, we’d love to see your expertise.
In addition to its delicious goodness, of other West African food recipes, this has great nutritional value. Cassava root is high in vitamin C which acts as an antioxidant and enhances immunity, among other benefits. Eddoes root health benefits include a good source of fiber low in sodium, rich in potassium, and containing iron. Plantains are a good source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
Did you make this recipe? Are you confident about how to cook cassava root? Please let us know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below. We always like to read your feedback.
Cassava Gravy
Rev up your healthy eating lifestyle with this exciting dish. Cassava gravy is truly meant for every vegetarian and plant-based food lover.
This gluten-free, nutritious yet delectable food is guaranteed to ginger up your holiday table.
Let’s not beat around the bush and jump right in its easy-breezy cooking directions:
Ingredients
- 1.5 yellow onion diced
- 7 cloves garlic mince
- 361g seitan (protein)
- 2.5cups broth
- 6-12 oz. of tomato paste
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2-3 Cassava (yuca) roots
- 3-6 Eddo (Taro) root
- 1 yellow plantain
- 1 TSB habanero pepper
- Salt & pepper
Instructions
- Pour one-third cup of oil in a cooking pan.
- Add at least seven cloves of garlic and stir fry for a couple of minutes.
- Add one and a half diced onions to the pan. Sauté for 3 to 5 minutes or until translucent.
- Add 6 to 12 ounces of tomato paste and mix well.
- Add only a pinch of salt or as per your taste.
- Add one tablespoon of habanero pepper to enhance your gravy’s flavor.
- Sprinkle some black pepper and stir well to let the spices blend in thoroughly.
- Then, add two and a half cups of broth and bring it to a boil. Simmer the gravy for about 3 minutes.
- Now is the time to add protein, to wit; seitan of 361 grams.
- After that, add one-fourth teaspoon of salt to the gravy and allow it to boil for around 4 minutes.
- Cover the pan for a while. Then, check the consistency of the sauce.
- Now, cut yellow plantain into small pieces with its both edges removed. However, there’s no need to peel off the plantain skin. Did you know plantain peels are loaded with vitamin A, linoleic acid, zinc, manganese, tannin, and sorbitol? All of these nutrients help cure skin disorders, wound healing, wrinkles, and skin allergies. They also promote hair growth, yield skin-softening effects, and accelerate cell regeneration. So, leave the peel on.
- Now, take 4 to 5 pieces of washed eddoes.
- Then, cut and peel yuca (cassava). You would notice candle wax on its surface. Remove their stems with a sharp knife. Take caution while doing so. Once cut into medium-sized blocks, use a butter knife to peel off the outer thick layer. The raw yuca itself tastes so good.
- Now, put two separate cooking pots on high flame. Pour water into them, one of which contains plantain and the other, yuca. Let them boil for at least 20 to 30 minutes. It is good to note here that ripe plantain cooks relatively fast. So, remove them first from water.
- Then, in the same pot, put eddoes. Cover them with water and let it simmer. You can cover the pot since enclosed pot helps eddoes cook faster.
- Check the yuca with the help of a fork test. If they feel tender, take them out of the water.
- Carry out the same fork test with eddoes. If the fork digs in easily, they are good to remove from water now.
- Now, peel boiled eddoes using a knife. Ensure to get rid of all the slime on white inner part. Then, peel off the plantain outer layers.
- At this moment, you need to assemble your food dish.
- Using your hands, divide yuca into half.
- In a bowl, add two or more pieces of yuca, plantain, eddoes, and pour cassava gravy on top of them.
- It’s ready to serve. Enjoy chomping the delicious West African red gravy with taro, cassava, and plantain.
Notes
Every bite of this cassava gravy deserves your love and applause. So, allow yourself to totally luxuriate in its deliciousness and delight.
We truly value your reviews and comments on our food recipes. So, don’t forget to share what you think about this vegan-style dish.
