Locust beans stew (obe oniru) or obe iru is Nigerian stew made with locust beans (iru), pepper mix, assorted meat and some other proteins. This remains one of my favourite stew ever, It’s just so good. I mostly have it with rice and yam but this stew is perfect with almost any type of food..with plantain, potatoes, pasta etc..It’s a perfect accompaniment.
I should have blogged about this Yoruba style stew a looong time ago but you know i stopped adding content here for some years. It’s been too long but now we are back and best believe it’s with a bang. With time, we’ll catch up on the recipes that should have been up a long time ago.
I actually have shared this recipe and even the video many times over the years on K’s Cuisine instagram page and taught it in my online cooking classes since 2016. Anyway, here we are now…Let’s cook:
Frequently asked Questions about Locust beans Stew
What is Locust beans?
This is fermented seed. It is a popular Yoruba condiment used in traditional soups like Ewedu, Okra, Ayamase and many more. There are two types of Iru namely Iru woro and iru pete. For this recipe, make use of iru woro.
What is substitute for locust beans?
As the name implies, one of the main ingredients is the locust beans however if you can’t get locust beans , try dawadawa or ogiri .
What is the difference between Locust beans stew and Ofada Stew?
For Ofada stew, Palm oil is bleached while for obe iru you don’t bleach palm oil.
Ingredients for locust beans stew
Bell peppers, Scotch bonnets, Onion, assorted meats, dried prawns, stockfishtimmings, stock cubes, palmoil.
Locust beans stew recipe
1) Using a food processor or blender, rough blend the bell peppers, scothbonnets and onion.
2) Add Palmoil in a pot then add in chopped onions and half of the locust beans. Stir for 2 minutes
3) Add in the blended pepper and stock cubes .
4) Add assorted meat, stockfish trimmings and dried prawns. Stir and leave to fry for 10 minutes
5) Add in the remaining half of locust beans, taste for salt and adjust accordingly. Let the stew fry for another 5 minutes or till well fried then take off heat.
6) Enjoy with rice, yam, pasta, plantain or any food of your choice.
Other delicious recipes to try out are
K Signature Stew
Ayamase
Edikangikong
Locust beans stew
Ingredients
- 3 Large Red Bell peppers
- 8- 12 Scotch bonnets
- 1 Large Onion
- 1 Small Onion Chopped
- 1 Cup Palm oil
- 6 tbspn Locust beans Divided
- 2 Cup Assorted meat
- 1/2 Cup Stock fish Trimmings
- 1/4 Cup Dried Prawns
- 2 Stock Cubes
- Salt
Instructions
- Using a food processor or blender, rough blend the bell peppers, scotch bonnets and large onion.
- Add Palmoil in a pot then add in chopped onions and half of the locust beans. Stir for 2 minutes.
- Add in the blended pepper and stock cubes.
- Add assorted meat, stockfish fillings and dried prawns. Stir and leave to fry for 10 minutes
- Add in the remaining half of locust beans, taste for salt and adjust accordingly. Let the stew fry for 5 more minutes or till well fried then take off heat.
- Enjoy with rice, yam, pasta, plantain or any food of your choice.
Video
Notes
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Can Chili Peppers be used as replacement for Bell Peppers?
You can use chilli peppers as substitute for scotchbonnets but for bell peppers, no. However you can use long red peppers to replace red bell peppers.
Can Chili pepper be used as a replacement for Bell peppers?