Prep time: 20 minutes/Cook time: 25 minutes/Serves: 4
Attiéké is the famous cassava semolina nicknamed ‘couscous of Ivory Coast’. Attiéké derives from the term adjèkè from the Ebrié language spoken in the south of the Ivory Coast, in the region of Abidjan. The original home-made version is called ahi, to distinguish it from the commercial variety, called attiéké. In the traditonal method, of preparation cassava is fermented in water for several days, dried in the sun, crushed, wrung out, dried and winnowed, then steamed. All of these steps remove the hydrocyanic acid naturally found in cassava. The consumption is so high that factories have been built to manufacture it. Attiéké is commonly found in African or Caribbean stores where it is sold, dried, fresh or frozen. The dried form is probably the easiest to get hold of. If you are making a quick onion sauce, take 1 onion, 2 garlic cloves, 1 habanero chilli and render to a paste with 125ml (1/2 cup) water in a food processor. Turn this mixture into a pot with 4 tbsp hot oil and fry briskly for 5 minutes.
Ingredients:
500g dry or frozen Attiéké
1 large fresh tomato
1 onion
1 cucumber (optional)
1 lemon
salt, to taste
Onion sauce, you will find the recipe on this link
chilli sauce
2 grilled chicken thighs (or fish)
2 tbsp oil
250ml (1 cup) of water
Method:
Tip the attiéké flour into a bowl and moisten with the 250ml (1 cup) water.
Heat water in the base of a couscousier (or a large pot that a colander can sit in). Gather the moistened attiéké in a tea towel and place in your couscousier or colander. Cover with a lid and steam for 20 minutes.
When the cassava couscous mixture is tender transfer to a bowl, season with salt and mix in a tablespoon of groundnut oil to help separate the grains then fluff with a fork.
Your attiéké is now ready. So you have something to serve with it, here’s a recipe for a tomato salad:
Dice the tomato, onions and cucumber. Season with a little lemon juice and salt then turn into a serving bowl.
To serve, arrange the attieke on a plate and serve with the tomato salad, the onion sauce and hot pepper sauce along with your braised chicken or fish and fried plantains.
