My Local Adventures Blog

Khoki beans is a meal made from beans commonly known as black-eyed peas. It is a meal enjoyed by many Cameroonians. It originates from the North West and Western (Bamileke) regions of Cameroon. The Bamileke cook Khoki without putting any leaves or vegetables inside but in the North West region cocoyam leaves are added to it. The North West version of Khoki is also very fluffy and light like cake.

This is how to cook Khoki beans like the people from the North West Region of Cameroon

Ingredients

To cook Khoki beans, you will need the following:

- Tying leave. It could be plantain or banana leaves or the leaves you can see in the picture below.

Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the plant that produces these leaves. It is mostly used to tie and cook food in the French-speaking regions of Cameroon like the Centre and South Regions while Banana and plantain leaves are used in the North West and South West Regions.

- The next ingredient is cocoyam leaves. As I said earlier, cocoyam leaves are added to the recipe of Khoki in the North West Region of Cameroon.

- Khoki beans which are also known as black-eyed peas. I didn't make a picture of the beans before grinding it but here is the paste of the ground beans. It is reddish because I added some pepper to it before grinding.

- You'll also need some salt and palm oil.

Cooking

- Soak beans overnight or for at least 8 hours.

- Peel the beans and wash it well.

- Grind the beans into a paste. You may add some pepper to the beans before grinding if you want some pepper.

- Without adding any more water to the paste after grinding, use a pistle to stir the paste in a circular motion very fast. This is will create air spaces in the paste, make it rise and also make the Khoki be fluffy.

You can stir it in a mortar. I didn't have a mortar at the time I made this recipe so I simply stirred it in a container.

- When the paste rises it means enough air has entered the paste. You can now start tying the paste in the leaves. But make sure that you keep stirring the paste until you tie up the last bundle so that the air stays in the paste.
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- Wash and warm the leaves over fire or vice versa. With the leaves I used, I had to wash them thoroughly before warming them over a fire. The banana or plantain leaves are warmed first before cleaning them with a damp cloth because they are more fragile and often less dirty. Warming the leaves prevents it from tearing easily.

- Prepare the pot to steam the Khoki beans. Use the stems from the leaves and put under the pot. Add some leaves on top of the sticks and make sure that you don't put much water so that it doesn't enter the Khoki beans.

- After preparing the pot, put it on the fire to start heating up. Putting leaves around the pot helps the pot to retain heat and protects the Khoki beans from water coming from below.

- After warming the leaves, fold them inside a bowl as you create space to put in the paste. It's better to double the leaves to prevent the paste from spilling out easily.

- Cut the leaves into smaller bits before adding to the paste.

- Pour in a proportionate quantity of the paste in the leaves and add some cocoyam leaves and palm oil and mix before tying each bundle.

- Tie the paste in bundles. You can make various sizes.

- Cover the pot with some leaves before placing the lid in order to lock in the heat then leave it to cook. I never time the pot but I leave it to cook for a long time because steaming is a slow method of cooking and beans do take a while to get cooked.

- Check the pot from time to time and add water when it dries up. Add water into the pot by pouring it to the sides and not directly on the food because the water may get into the bundles and spoil the Khoki beans.

- You may add your tubers to the pot and let it cook with the Khoki beans.

- When it's ready, untie it from the leaves and serve it with any tuber or roots of your choice. Khoki beans is usually eaten with cassava, unripe bananas, plantains, cocoyam and sweet potatoes.