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Garba
Cassava couscous with fried tuna
Garba: Abidjan's attiéké with fried tuna, raw onion, tomato and hot chilli
Garba is the cheap, filling lunch and evening meal of Abidjan's street stalls, the garbadromes, where students and taxi drivers queue for a heap of steamed attiéké (fermented cassava couscous) with chunks of fried tuna, raw onion, tomato and a fierce dose of chilli, all eaten with the fingers. Using ready frozen or packaged attiéké makes it a 15-minute dinner at home. The common mistake is frying the tuna in small batches in barely any oil, so it steams grey instead of browning. Chef's tip: pour a spoon of the hot frying oil over the attiéké before serving, as the garba sellers do; it is what makes it taste right.
- Total time
- 15 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 2
Ingredients
- 10 ½ oz tuna steakcut into 3 cm chunks
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ cup vegetable oilfor shallow frying
- 14 oz attiéké (cassava couscous)frozen or packaged
- 1 onionfinely chopped
- 2 tomatoesdiced
- 2 fresh hot chilliesfinely chopped, or to taste
- ½ vegetable stock cube (optional)crumbled
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Pat 10 ½ oz tuna steak dry and rub it all over with ¾ tsp salt.
Step 2: Heat ½ cup vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat until a cube of tuna sizzles hard when it goes in. Fry the tuna for 4–5 minutes, turning, until browned outside, opaque all the way through and flaking when pressed. Lift onto kitchen paper.
5 minStep 3: Meanwhile heat 14 oz attiéké (cassava couscous) as the packet says (usually 3–4 minutes in the microwave, covered, or steamed), then fluff it with a fork.
4 minStep 4: Mix 1 onion, 2 tomatoes and 2 fresh hot chillies in a bowl with a pinch of salt and ½ vegetable stock cube if you like.
Step 5: Pile the attiéké on plates, drizzle with 1 tbsp of the hot frying oil, top with the tuna and spoon the onion and chilli mix alongside.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 640 kcal
- Protein
- 38 g
- Carbs
- 78 g
- Fat
- 20 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does garba take?
- About 15 minutes in total: 5 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 2 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Is it very spicy?
- It has some heat. Use less chilli for a milder version, or more if you like it hot.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of tomatoes?
- Tinned chopped tomatoes: a 400g tin for about 6 tomatoes (in cooked dishes, not salads).
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