Steemit Engagement Challenge S2W3 | Steem4Nigeria Contest | WAAKYE

Hi guys,

Introduction

We are into the 3rd week of the steemit engagement challenge. This time around I will be joining the contest which was announced by steem Nigeria. In this contest, the organisers have asked that users promote or prepare a recipe which is peculiar to their country. For this contest I will like to invite @sadiqxylo, @kasib07 and @chenty to come and take part.

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I leave in the Northern part of Ghana and j must tell you people that there are a lot of dishes which are popular. Some of this dishes are borrowed dishes which have nothing to do with Ghana.

An example is fried rice, a Chinese dish which has gained so much popularity over the years because of it's taste and look.

Down here in the North we do cherish a lot of recipes, from Tuo Zaafi to Waakye, Fufu and others. Today I will like to talk about Waakye. A dish which originated from down here in the North and has gained so much popularity not just in Ghana but all over the world.

Waakye is a dish which is prepared using the combination of rice and beans. It is a food of the northerners of Ghana.

It is commonly referred to as rice and beans but the name waakye seems to be accepted worldwide these days.

As I said, Waakye originated from the north. This is said to be the case because down here in the north we have an abundance of these two ingredients which are used in the preparation of the delicacy. But it seems the tribe which brought about this special delicacy is still not known so the people of the north have decided to attach it to all the tribes and the north.

This is surprisingly one of the national or northern treasures that all the ethnic groups in the north will gladly say originated from the north and no one tribe is the pioneer of this delicacy.

I've grown to love waakye so much as I was introduced to it by my mother. I must say that I am not addicted to the dish but a week without having waakye will mean that I have not eaten food for the week(if you get what I mean). I can't go a week without at least taking waakye twice. When I am in school I use it as breakfast every morning but when I am at home we prepare it as lunch.

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Now let me show users how waakye is prepared.

Waakye is a simple recipe and easy to cook. Unlike Jollof, it will not disgrace you when you talk about preparing it for some

First of all, the ingredients required are

• Rice( preferable local rice)
• Beans
• Salt
• Water
• Sodium leaves. (Normally called waakye leaves)

Ingredient	Picture

Rice

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Beans

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Salt

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Sodium leaves

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There are several ways of preparing this dish, you will also realise that the method of preparing waakye depends on the tribe or location you find yourself in.

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First of all, soak the beans in water for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. This cuts down the cooking time of the beans as they can be stubborn some times.

After soaking the beans for an hour put them on fire. Make sure the water used in preparing the beans is much more than the amount of the beans to allow them to cook properly. Allow beans to cook but don't allow them to get cooked. After about 30 to 40 minutes of the beans, preparation cut down the amount of water you have used and put in your rice.

Add salt to taste.

Stir so that the beans and rice will mix properly with each other.

After washing your sodium leaves properly, add a little to the food whilst it is still on fire. Some people prefer to start by preparing the sodium leaves and the beans together to get everything out of the sodium leaves.

These sodium leaves are what give the waakye its spectacular look. Without the leaves, it will look like normal rice and beans.

After adding all these ingredients allow the food to cook. Make sure to check on it every 10 to 15 minutes to make sure it's not burning.

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In about 30-45 minutes your food will be prepared and then we can take it off the fire.

Waakye can be eaten with either stew or hot shito. It is mostly accompanied by gari. Users can also add vegetables to their waakye.

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I will recommend this dish to users. In these hard times, you can have waakye in the morning and you will be okay till supper. It is a dish when taken in a user is satisfied for a long time. Its taste is different from other dishes.

Waakye will always be part of us here in Ghana. Because of its taste, you will realise that when you go outside Ghana, especially in counties like America you will find waakye prepared there.

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Conclusion

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Like I said before, waakye is easy to prepare and as such you will see that the process and ingredients used are quite easy to find. The only one which might be hard to get at times will be the sodium leaves. Apart from that, you are good to go.

You can prepare waakye without sodium leaves but you wouldn't get the colour that is required to qualify it as waakye.

Waakye is a delicacy which is cherished by Ghanaians and it will forever be part of us wherever we find ourselves.

Thank you for reading.