I’ve been eating tilapia since birth. The nostalgia of enjoying it grilled in sauce, cooked in banana leaves, served with fufu (cassava flour) and greens like pondu or pounded cassava leaves takes me back to my childhood. In Angola, it is common to eat tilapia with a fresh lemon fennel salad. However, in East Africa, the salad can be replaced with Ugali (page 72), while in West Africa, attieke, ground couscous-like cassava, is a great substitute. Whatever you pair the tilapia with, it’s bound to tantalize the tastebuds.
In a medium pan, marinate the fish in the lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper for at least 2 hours, covered, in the refrigerator.
In a medium pan, heat some vegetable oil and cook half the onions until soft, about 5 minutes, then add the tomatoes, and stir. Add the okra and garden eggs, then cook for another 10 minutes, stirring slowly until done. Add salt to taste.
In a hot pan, add vegetable oil and the remaining chopped onion and cook for 5 minutes. Stir, then add the chopped pumpkin leaves to the pan and cook at medium heat for 10 minutes. Add salt to taste.
Serve the fish with the vegetables.
PREPARATION TIME: 20 MINUTES,
PLUS 2 HOURS MARINATING
COOKING TIME: 30 MINUTES
SERVES 2
1 whole tilapia fish, scales removed and cleaned (ask your fishmonger to do this)
juice of 2 lemons
2 cloves garlic, chopped
½ cup (3½ fl oz/100 ml) vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
32 oz/100 g tomatoes, chopped
1% oz/50 g okra, chopped
2/3
5 garden eggs (African eggplant),
chopped
1 bunch pumpkin leaves, chopped salt and pepper
Alfonso Videira