Among the many treasures Courtney Robison brought back from Ghana is a traditional wooden grinding bowl. This is a mortar and pestle with grooves carved into the bowl. Sometimes made of clay and sometimes wood, it makes fast work of mashing garlic, ginger, tomatoes, herb leaves, etc. - much faster than the traditional European, smooth-sided mortar and pestle. And, we both agreed, faster to clean than a food processor. (I have used a similar invention - the Japanese suribachi, an earthenware bowl with grooves in it and a wooden pestle, which for more than 30 years has made fast work of any mashed vegetable sauces, such as pesto or guacamole. Suribachis are readily available at Asian import stores.) Of course, you can use a food processor or a blender if you prefer.
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1/4 large red onion, chopped (divided)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium tomato
Hot pepper (minced fresh or ground) to taste 1 bunch coco yam leaf (not available in Portland; use fresh spinach instead)
1/4 cup palm oil (see note)
About 2 cups water
2 tablespoons agushi (ground melon seeds; see note)
Salt and black pepper to taste (optional)
For serving: African yam, steamed plaintain or hot rice
Grind the ginger, half of the onion, the garlic and the tomato in a grinding bowl or food processor. If using fresh hot pepper, include it here (wear rubber gloves when handling fresh chilies to keep the hot oils off your skin; they can burn). Set aside.
In a separate pan on medium-high heat, steam spinach until soft. Remove from stove; set aside.
Heat the palm oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Add a few pieces of the remaining onion - onion should sizzle - and a spoonful of water. When the hissing stops, add the rest of the onions and the ground mixture. Rinse the blender or grinding bowl with the 2 cups of water and add to the pan.
Grind the steamed spinach in the grinding bowl and add it to sauce. Add agushi, stir. Add salt and ground pepper, if using, to taste.
Serve with boiled and drained chunks of African yam, or sliced, steamed plantain (see note). Or serve over steaming hot rice.
Notes: Palm oil is hard to find in the Northwest. It's also a very hard fat, as saturated as lard. While its flavor is unique, I found the ginger, onion, garlic flavor base of the sauce strong enough to carry very well when I substituted peanut oil.
Note: Find palm oil, agushi (ground melon seeds), plantain, and precooked frozen African yam at the African Food Market, 1910 N. Killingsworth St.,
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