Recipe #93: Akple (corn and cassava dough)

In July I discussed cassava (yucca, manioc) dough, and began describing how to make it--at least as far as grating the peeled cassava and pressing it to drain it for 2 or 3 days. Today's post follows up on that. After 3 days, you will have a dry, tightly pressed together clump of cassava. I added a cup of water to a blender, and blended the cassava to a dough/paste. That is what I'm using today. (I had several cups of dough, and have the rest stored it in the freezer). A photo at that previous blog posting shows the Ewe answer to banku: akple. Once one has the cassava dough, it is simple to make. I decided akple would go well with the yesterday's garden egg stew, so only made a small amount since I'm home alone this week. You might want to try this small recipe first, and if you like it, increase the recipe next time you make it.

Recipe #93: Akple (cooked corn and cassava dough)

The proportions for making akple are 1/3 of cassava dough to 2/3rds corn dough. It is my understanding that akple is made from unfermented corn dough. I used

• 1/2 cup of cassava dough
• 1 cup of corn dough

To make the corn dough, I put a cup of white Indian Head cornmeal in a blender to make it a little finer (optional), then mixed it in a bowl with a teaspoon of cornstarch (also optional) to make a slightly smoother dough, then mixed 1/2 cup of water into it. (NOTE: the photo shows the cassava dough on the left and the corn dough on the right.

•  Mix together the 2 doughs in a saucepan with a half cup of water to get a smooth creamy mixture, and add a little salt (I used ~1/4 teaspoon). A nice heavy wooden spoon or stick works well.
• Put the mixture on the stove on a medium heat and stir it as it heats, adding another half cup of water all at once and continue stirring until it forms a solid mass (about 10-15 minutes). Do not allow the dough to become lumpy or scorch on the bottom. Turn it as you stir.
• When the mixture becomes fairly solid and no longer "wet" looking, take a calabash (or bowl), wet it thoroughly and put a spoonful of the dough into the calabash, shaking it vigorously and rolling the dough inside into a circle or oval shape.

Originally, akple was eaten mainly with fetri ma or fetri detsi, but now it goes well with other dishes, such as fried fish with pepper sauce or shito, or palaver sauce. As I said, I'm enjoying mine with garden egg stew.

Recipe #76: Cassava (yucca) Dough

The Ewe people number between 3 and 6 million people (I've seen figures citing both),  mostly living in Southeastern Ghana in the Volta Region and also southern parts of neighboring Togo and Benin. While my collaborator Barbara Baeta can and does prepare dishes from all 10 regions in the country, she is an Ewe woman, and her heart belongs to places like Keta along the coast. On her own table, she displays a love of dishes featuring the  riches of the sea and coast, fresh and dried seafood, garlic, okra, and dishes including cassava dough, such as akple, the Ewe answer to banku. The main difference between the two is fermentation and the  cassava dough (banku is all or mostly made from fermented corn dough; akple is made from unfermented corn dough and cassava dough).

One of the challenges in writing our Ghanaian cookbook for folks outside of Ghana  is the difficulty in duplicating some of the ingredients easily found in any open-air market there,  such as corn dough and cassava dough, or even fresh cassava. However, the name of this blog and network, "BETUMI," comes from the Akan word "tumi," meaning "to be able to."

So, in the spirit of "can do," here is my approach to creating the doughs. I've already explained how to make fermented corn dough using white Indian Head corn meal (see the link to banku above), and 2 days ago I decided to try using dried hominy corn to make a smoother corn dough. That's the whiter one in the photo to the right and the  one I may use when I make the akple after my cassava dough is ready in a couple of days (Incidentally, the Goya corn I ground doesn't seem to be fermenting anyway. I wonder if it was treated with lime or something?) Or, you can make the dough as for banku (the one on the right in the photo), but without letting it ferment.

To make akple you need to combine twice as much corn dough as cassava dough. Today's recipe, following the sketchy directions in my notes, is for cassava dough:

"Peel cassava, wash it, grate it very fine, mix water if not too wet, put in a sack and put a stone or heavy pot on it and let drain for 2-3 days."

Recipe #76: Cassava (yucca) dough

• Finding fresh cassava is the first challenge. It is a root and will probably be called yucca in the market. It will be likely coated in wax. Unapologetically ask someone in the produce department to cut a few tubers in half before you buy them to make sure they are not rotten (I usually find they are when I shop).  When you get them home (I bought 3 and still had to discard part of one), peel them and drop them in some water. I usually cut the ends off, cut them in half at the center, then use a sharp knife to kind of peel back the dark bark. I ended up with about a pound of peeled cassava.
• The next step is not for the fainthearted. Roll up your sleeves and use some elbow grease to grate the cassava into a clean bowl. I used the "fine" side of a box grater. It's possible that a food processor could also do this, but I'm sticking exactly to my notes this time. If you also cut the pieces horizontally, you'll see a kind of stringy piece that runs down the cassava. I pulled a few of those out, but also grated some of them along with the rest of the cassava.
• "Mix water if it is not too wet" was cryptic, so I decided to add some water, reasoning that if it was too much it would just drain out eventually. To my 2 1/2 cups of grated cassava, I added about a half cup of water in the bowl and swished it around in the stainless steel bowl I was using.
• How to drain it? I decided to put the grated cassava into a clean pillowcase, set a stainless steel bowl weighted down with rocks on top of it, placed the pillowcase on a patio chair with a plastic pan under it to catch the starchy water draining out. Not too elegant, but it seems to work. I also doubled the pillow case, and put a paper towel between the chair. If rain threatens, I'll move the chair into the garage, but I've got it outside during the day.
• On Saturday I'll take it out and see what we have. . .