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. . .

Recipe #74: Savory Pastry Chips

Today's recipe, savory pastry chips, is a popular party snack in Ghana. When we made these at Flair Catering we used a pasta machine, but you can make them fine at home without one. Also, we fried them, but by adding a bit more margarine or butter, you could also bake them.

Assemble ingredients

• 1/2 lb (8 oz) flour (that was about 2 2/3 cup unsifted for me)
• 1 oz margarine (or butter or butter-flavored shortening)
• 1/4 teaspoon dried ground red pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• ~ 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground garlic (1 or 2 cloves, peeled)
• 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) ground or finely grated onion (roughly 1/2 small onion)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• l or 2 bay leaves to season the oil 
• about 5 cups of vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup of cold water
• extra flour for rolling out the dough

If you do not have a pasta machine, you'll need a rolling pin.

Directions:

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl, then rub or cut the margarine or butter into it (I use my hands, or two table knives), add  the 1/4 teaspoon red pepper, the 1/4 teaspoon white pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, mixing all together until it looks like cornmeal. 
2. Prepare the garlic and onion and add to the dough, mixing some more. I blended mine together in a blender, and added a teaspoon of water to help blend it. (NOTE: I should have added about a tablespoon).
3. Add the 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and continue mixing.
4. Measure out 1/2 cup of water. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of water over the dough in the bowl and mix it in with a fork. Push the moistened flour to the side and add a little more water (a couple of tablespoons), mix and push to the side of the bowl. Continue adding the water until the dough is just wet enough to hold together. 
5. Knead the dough lightly in the bowl for half a minute.
6. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, and roll one out to about 1/8: thick on a lightly floured surface. (If you have a pasta machine, simply cut the dough into sizes that will fit into it). I usually wet my counter with a little water and put waxed paper on it, then sprinkle the waxed paper with a little flour. This makes cleanup easier.
7. Gently fold the dough on top of itself several times, then cut it into strips about 1/8 to 1/4" wide (the thinner, the crisper).
8. Unfold the dough, and cut the strips into pieces (mine were about 1 3/4" long). You can also cut them into many tiny squares if you prefer.
9. Heat about 5 cups of oil to about 260 degrees F in a deep fryer or in a heavy pan or pot on the stove, depending on the size of your fryer or pot, and making sure not to overfill it.  Season the oil with a bay leaf or a couple of slices of onion. Remove the leaf or onion before it burns.
10. Add the strips (or squares) carefully into the pot. I put a couple dozen at a time on a slotted spoon and added them, stirring the oil occasionally while they cooked.
11. Within a few minutes, when they are a light golden color, they are ready to remove and drain. The chips should not be as dark as  doughnuts or atwemo. Cook smaller squares separately from the strips. They will cook in just a minute or two. They should be nice and crunchy when they cool.

These chips can be frozen, or stored tightly covered in an airtight container for up to a week.

When doubled, this recipe is easily enough for 12 people.At Flair they often serve these chips with plain peanuts or coated groundnuts in small cocktail baskets set around the room. After you make this once, you can decide if you want to increase the salt, pepper, onion, etc. next time.

My grade on this recipe: If I were to give myself a grade on my execution of this recipe today, I'd probably give myself a B+. Why? First of all, I grabbed "white"whole wheat flour from the cupboard instead of the white unbleached flour I meant to, so the color is not quite right, and they're heavier and a bit drier than they should be. Secondly, I forgot to add (and then remove) the bay leaves to the oil after I heated it and before I added the chips. It's missing that subtle seasoning touch. Finally, when I blended the onion and garlic in the blender, I didn't add enough water to make a smooth paste so there are bits of onion visible in the finished chips. Still, the chips taste fine.

Pineapple flour: last week when I was making pineapple juice, I tossed the pineapple core in the blender and blended it, then put it in a saucepan over a very low heat trying to dry it to see if I can make my own pineapple flour. (Not only do I not have a pasta machine, and I don't have a dehydrator, either). That didn't work, so today I scraped out the pineapple dregs from the pan and put them on a plate outside to see if they would dry that way. I'll let you know if it ever gets dry enough to grind it again. However, I can see at best I'll only get a couple of tablespoons of flour. . .

Update on the corn dough effort: Yesterday I mentioned that I was going to try soaking some hominy corn overnight, and then try to make my own fermented corn dough using that. Today I rinsed off the corn. I ended up with about 2 3/4 cups of soaked corn. In order to blend it, I had to use a little over a cup of water (about 1/2 cup water to each cup of corn). It's much wetter than normal corn dough. I poured the mixture into a glass pitcher that I've covered loosely. I'll keep you informed. I hope it begins bubbling and fermenting by tomorrow.