A Friday Favorite

I’ve been having a blast getting back into the swing of things in my village. I’ve been making brooms, decorating my hut, and cooking with my friends! Last Friday I went to the market with my sister wife Saffie, and I ran into my friend, Aja. Aja was getting all the ingredients she needed to make her family a traditional dish and a Friday favorite among Gambians. Nankatango, also called bahal, is a rice dish cooked with dried fish and groundnuts, and can be really filling and delicious. I went home with Aja to help her prepare lunch and to write down this classic Gambian recipe. Here’s what you need to start cooking up some Nankatango:

• Rice
• Groundnuts
• Jumbo (or a bullion cube)
• A few small hot peppers
• 2 dried fish
• Any veggies you want to throw into the food bowl

1. First, you wanna start the rice. Then pound the groundnuts in your trusty mortar and pestle. Sift the powder and feed the larger pieces that won’t sift through to your chickens.
2. pound jumbo with hot peppers and salt (optional) and mix in with the pounded groundnuts.
3. Strip the dried fish and set the pieces on the charcoal or ire to cook for a few minutes. After this, it should crumble into the groundnut mixture.
4. The rice should be boiling at this point, so throw your veggies into the pot with the rice and let them soften up. We used bitter tomatoes.
5. When the rice is nearly done, mix in the groundnut mixture and cover the pot with a lid. Simmer while stirring occasionally for another half hour or so.

 

Aja stirs the rice in her typical Gambian kitchen. She also has an indoor cooking area to the right, but we felt like cooking without a roof since it was a nice day! The bowl to the right has pounded groundnuts in it mixed with Jumbo.

Pouring the groundnut/fish mixture onto the rice and veggies. Mix it up well!

All mixed, spooned, and garnished with a bitter tomato, my favorite vegetable in these parts!

Bisimilah! Bahal is so easy to eat with your hands; the groundnuts make the rice ball up really easy. The hot peppers give it a kick and the whole dish makes my belly happy and my face all smiles 🙂

This meal is quick, nutritious, and incredibly affordable within the village setting. There are always groundnuts all over the community (it’s a staple crop here) and we live about 10K from the river, so fishing is a regular activity. Add a few veggies from your garden and you’re ready to go! Everyone loves it, it’s filling, and it’s pretty easy to eat with your hands once it cools off a bit. Nankatango, or bahal, is kind of a hit or miss dish- in some compounds its delicious, but in others it might not line up with your taste buds- but all in all it’s pretty yummy where I live.

If any of my American readers can think of a simple American classic (that doesn’t require cheese or an oven) please let me know! I’d love to share an American meal with my Gambian community just as I’ve shared their Nankatango with all of you!