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Adalu
Adalu: Yoruba beans and sweetcorn cooked soft in palm oil and pepper
Across Yorubaland, from Abeokuta to Ibadan, adalu is the pot of beans and corn that keeps a family going: brown beans cooked until they collapse, sweetcorn stirred through for pops of sweetness, and a base of red palm oil, onion and blended pepper. People eat it for breakfast or an early lunch, often with fried plantain or a hunk of agege bread. It is soft, creamy and slightly sweet-savoury. Many cooks add ground crayfish; this version is vegan. The mistake is adding salt and stock cubes while the beans are still hard, which stops them softening; season only once they mash easily. Chef's tip: mash a ladle of the cooked beans against the side of the pot before adding the corn; it thickens the sauce without any flour.
- Total time
- 95 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 5
Ingredients
- 14 oz Nigerian brown beans (oloyin) or black-eyed beanspicked over and rinsed
- 10 ½ oz sweetcornfresh kernels or drained tinned
- ¼ cup red palm oil
- 1 onionchopped
- 1 red bell pepperseeded
- 1 vegetable stock cubevegan, gluten-free if needed
- ½ tsp saltto taste
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Cover 14 oz Nigerian brown beans (oloyin) or black-eyed beans with 1.5 litres of water and boil for 10 minutes. Drain and discard this first water, which helps the beans sit more gently on the stomach.
10 minStep 2: Return the beans to the pot with 1.5 litres of fresh water and simmer, partly covered, for 50–60 minutes until they squash easily between your fingers. Top up with hot water so they stay covered.
60 minStep 3: Meanwhile blend 1 red bell pepper, 1 scotch bonnet, 1 plum tomato and half of ½ onion to a purée.
2 minStep 4: Warm ¼ cup red palm oil in a pan over a medium-low heat, add the rest of ½ onion and fry for 3 minutes, then add the purée and fry for 5 minutes until thick.
8 minStep 5: Tip the pepper sauce into the soft beans with 1 vegetable stock cube and ½ tsp salt. Mash a ladle of beans against the side of the pot. Add 10 ½ oz sweetcorn and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often, until thick enough to hold on a spoon.
10 minStep 6: Taste for salt and serve hot, with fried plantain or bread.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 380 kcal
- Protein
- 16 g
- Carbs
- 52 g
- Fat
- 13 g
- Fibre
- 14 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does adalu take?
- About 95 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 85 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 5 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of sweetcorn?
- Frozen or tinned sweetcorn, same weight.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
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