Traditional ndolé: the Cameroonian stew of bitter leaves with peanuts, beef and shrimp

Ndolé is the feast dish of Cameroon's coast, of the Douala and Bassa peoples, and it became the national dish of a country with more than two hundred peoples. The name is that of the leaf, vernonia, a bitter-tasting plant that must be washed and rubbed several times in salted water or with baking soda until it loses its bitterness and turns soft. That work is what separates a good ndolé from a bad one.

Over the leaves goes a sauce of raw peanuts, boiled and ground, sautéed with onion, garlic, ginger and a little chili, and the proteins: cubed beef, dried shrimp, which gives the depth of flavor, and fresh shrimp on top. The result is creamy, dark green, salty and slightly bitter, and resembles nothing eaten outside Central Africa.

Ndolé leaves are found frozen or dried in African grocery stores; spinach with a little arugula or mustard greens gives a milder ndolé with no washing. It is eaten with fried ripe plantain, rice, or miondo, the sticks of fermented cassava cooked in leaves.

Recipe card

• Origin: Douala, Cameroon
• Category: Main course, leaf stew with peanuts
• Difficulty: Medium
• Preparation time: 40 minutes
• Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 500 g ndolé leaves, washed and drained (frozen or rehydrated dried; or 800 g spinach with 100 g arugula, chopped)
• 1 1/2 cups raw skinless peanuts
• 500 g beef (topside) in cubes
• 200 g cleaned fresh shrimp
• 1/2 cup dried shrimp (or 2 tablespoons dried shrimp powder)
• 2 large onions, chopped (1 for the beef, 1 for the sauté)
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1 piece of ginger, 4 cm
• 1 habanero or fresh red chili (optional)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 beef bouillon cube or salt to taste
• 2 cups water
• Fried ripe plantain, rice or miondo to serve

Method

1. If the leaves are fresh or dried ndolé, boil them for 15 minutes with 1 tablespoon baking soda, drain, rub in cold salted water, rinse and repeat until they lose the strong bitterness. Squeeze well and chop. With spinach, just blanch and squeeze.
2. Boil the peanuts in water for 20 minutes, drain and blend with 1 cup water into a thick cream.
3. Blend half the onion with the garlic, ginger and chili into a paste.
4. In a pot, cook the beef with the rest of the chopped onion, the bouillon and 1 cup water, covered, for 30 minutes, until tender.
5. Add the peanut cream to the beef and cook on low for 15 minutes, stirring so it does not stick.
6. Add the leaves and dried shrimp and cook for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. In a frying pan, heat the oil and fry the onion, garlic and ginger paste for 3 minutes, add the fresh shrimp and sauté for 2 minutes.
8. Pour the sauté with its oil over the ndolé, mix, adjust the salt and cook for 5 minutes. Serve with fried plantain, rice or miondo.

Tips and variations

• Washing the ndolé leaves is the step you do not rush; frozen leaves usually come partly washed.
• Raw peanuts, never roasted: roasted ones make the sauce taste like peanut butter.
• Smoked fish ndolé is the oldest version.
• The onion and oil sauté on top, at the end, is the Douala signature: do not skip it.
• It is better the next day; freezes well.
• Miondo and bobolo (cassava sticks) are found in African stores; white rice will do.
• Little sauce and lots of leaf is the right point: ndolé is thick, not a soup.

Ndolé is green, creamy, bitter in the right measure and full of shrimp: Cameroon's feast dish, which takes work and rewards it. Serve with fried ripe plantain and understand.