Biteku-teku

🌿 Edible amaranth greens with African eggplant and smoked fish, in a tomato and onion sauce. Four servings.

Ingredients

• 500 g sorted edible amaranth leaves and tender tips
• 200 g trimmed small African eggplants
• 120 g deboned smoked fish flesh, to be cooked
• 100 g onion
• 30 g spring onion
• 150 g tomatoes
• 80 g seeded green bell pepper
• 6 g garlic
• 30 ml neutral oil
• 200 ml sauce water
• 1.5 litres water to preboil leaves; discard
• Up to 2 g salt, depending on fish
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

Sort the leaves, remove tough stems, wash thoroughly, weigh 500 g and chop.

Boil 1.5 litres water; cook leaves for five minutes or until beginning to soften. Drain.

Cut eggplants into 2 cm pieces and prepare other vegetables. Debone fish carefully and weigh 120 g.

Heat oil; soften onion five minutes, add garlic for 30 seconds, then tomato and pepper for five to seven minutes.

Add eggplant, fish and 200 ml water. Simmer 15–20 minutes until eggplant is tender.

Add drained greens and spring onion. Cook another 10–15 minutes until fully cooked, adding a little water if needed.

Add black pepper, adjust salt after tasting the fish sauce and reduce briefly if watery.

Serve four portions hot. Cool promptly, refrigerate up to 48 hours and reheat thoroughly; watch for remaining fish bones.