Moi moi, a vegetarian recipe from Nigeria

Name: Moi moi
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 85 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Nigeria
Ingredients: 300 g dried black-eyed beans; 1 red bell pepper, seeded; 1 medium onion; 1 scotch bonnet chilli; 60 ml sunflower oil; 1½ tsp salt; 1 tsp smoked paprika; 250 ml warm water; Banana leaves or 6 ramekins

Method

Cover the beans with water and soak for 2 hours. Rub them between your palms to loosen the skins, then rinse, floating the skins out of the bowl.
Blend the peeled beans with the pepper, onion and chilli, adding the water a little at a time. The batter should stay thick and pourable.
Pour the batter into a bowl. Stir in the oil, salt and paprika, then whisk for a minute to lighten it.
Oil the ramekins or fold the banana leaves into cones. Fill them two thirds full, as the batter rises as it cooks.
Set the moulds in a steamer, cover with a tea towel and then the lid. Steam for 45 minutes over medium heat.
Test with a knife tip, which should come out clean. Let them cool for 10 minutes before turning out.

Peeling the beans decides the texture. Skins give a grey, grainy pudding, while bare beans set pale yellow and smooth. Two hours of soaking softens the skins enough to slip off under your fingers, and the rinse water carries them away as they float up.

The techniques this recipe uses

Drain and rinse
Canning liquid clouds a sauce and salts it blind: rinse until the water runs clear.

Frequently asked questions

Do I really have to skin the beans?

Yes, that is what decides the texture. The skins give a greyish, gritty pudding, while skinned beans give smooth, pale yellow flesh. After two hours of soaking, rub them between your palms, then rinse generously: the skins float up and pour away with the water.

How do I know when moi moi is cooked?

A knife tip pushed into the centre should come out clean after forty-five minutes of steaming. Let it cool for ten minutes before turning out, since the pudding firms as it cools and will not unmould cleanly while piping hot.

Why fill the moulds only two thirds full?

The batter rises noticeably as it steams, as the recipe notes, and would spill out of the ramekins or leaf parcels. Whisking for a minute after the oil goes in beats air into it and increases that rise further, which lightens the pudding.

Moi moi

Method

The techniques this recipe uses

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Nutrition per serving

Frequently asked questions

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