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BELL PEPPER SOUP

Obe Ata (Yoruba)

It wouldn’t be right to have a Nigerian cookbook and not include Obe Ata. Obe means soup in Yoruba and ata means pepper. In Nigeria, soups are usually made by blending the ingredients first and then cooking them in oils and flavoured stock. When made this way, they develop a vibrant colour. Most are ruby red, rich gold or bright, emerald green, encapsulating Nigerian food to a T: rich in flavour and beautiful to look at. This recipe is really quite spicy, so feel free to reduce or omit the chilli according to your taste buds! Serve with some Agege Bread or brioche, with rice spooned on top, or with Okele.

PREP TIME: 10 MINS

COOKING TIME: 20 MINS

SERVES: 4

2 large red peppers, chopped

4 salad tomatoes, halved

2 white onions, halved

2 celery sticks, chopped (optional)

4cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped (optional)

2 tbsp palm oil or coconut oil

1 beef, chicken or vegetable stock cube

1 tsp garlic granules

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 tbsp carob powder (optional)

2 Scotch bonnet chillies, deseeded (if preferred) and finely chopped

salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper

groundnut oil, to serve

Using a blender or food processor, blitz the peppers, tomatoes, onions, celery and ginger (if using) with 100ml water to a relatively smooth liquid. You might need to do this in batches, depending on the size of your equipment.

Place a large saucepan over a medium heat and add the palm oil or coconut oil. Once it has melted, add the pepper mix, increase the heat to medium–high and cook for roughly 5 minutes until its colour changes from a pastel red to a dark, fiery red.

In a measuring jug, add 200ml boiling water to the stock cube, garlic granules, ground cloves and the carob powder, if using. Stir to dissolve the stock cube and then pour into the pan with the pepper mix. Add the chopped Scotch bonnets and season to taste with salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Stir, then place the lid on the pan and bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat back to medium–low and cook for a further 10 minutes until reduced to a rich soup. By this point any tanginess from the peppers should be gone and the soup will taste almost sweet.

Divide between four bowls and drizzle over some groundnut oil to serve.

NOTES

Because this soup is eaten so often, many Nigerian households use double or triple the quantity of ingredients, blend the vegetables and then freeze them in portions. The frozen pepper paste can be added straight to the pan with the stock and spices. It’s also very common to add some form of protein to turn the soup into a stew. Favourites include chicken thighs or drumsticks, firm white fish or diced beef and tripe.