Steem food: Making My Simple African Moi-Moi

Nigerian Moi Moi (also Moin Moin) is a great dish accessory in Nigeria. It is commonly seen accompanying Jollof Rice, Fried Rice, Fried Plantain, Custard, Akamu (Pap, Ogi) etc. It can even be eaten alone as a snack with a chilled soft drink to wash it down.

#Ingredients
I usually cook Moi Moi in a large quantity and store in my freezer so the following quantities of ingredients make 12 aluminium bags of Moi Moi. Each bag weighs 420g.

3 cigar cups or 750g Beans (Brown/Black eyed)
5 tablespoons ground crayfish
4 big stock cubes
1 habanero pepper
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
3 tatashe peppers or 800g watery tomato puree (sold outside Nigeria)
2 big onions
20cl vegetable oil
2 litres of cool or warm water
Salt (to taste)

#Moi-Moi Accessories
Add any of the following to the Moi Moi
Hard boiled eggs: Cut the eggs into small pieces.
Bone Marrow: Cook the bone marrow with spices and herbs till done then add to the Moi Moi at the mixing stage.
Corned beef: separate into small chunks and add to the moi moi during mixing. You can also add to the moi moi after dishing then into cooking bowls or foil bags.

Cooking Directions
Blend the beans, tatashe or tomato puree, onions, crayfish, habanero pepper and ground nutmeg together with some of the water and pour the mix into a big enough bowl.
Add the vegetable oil and the bone marrow stock (if this is what you have chosen to add to your moi moi).
Slowly add the remaining water and stir the mixture at the same time till you get a good mix of all the ingredients.
Add salt to taste and stir very well.
Note: Moi Moi is one of the Nigerian food recipes that is prepared cold. All the mixing and adding of ingredients is done off the stove. That is to say, once you start cooking, there is no going back! You cannot decide to add more salt or seasoning or a new ingredient later. So getting it right at the mixing stage is very important.

Pad the base of a big pot, pour some water and set on the stove. The depth of the water should be at most 1 inch.
Dish the Moi moi mix into containers of your choice, add egg/bone marrow/corned beef to each container, seal/cover and set them in the pot.
Add as small quantity of water as possible at a time while cooking the Moi Moi as detailed in preparation and use of moi moi containers so that the moi moi will not become watery when done. This is the case especially when using aluminium foil or uma leaves.
The length of time you will cook your Moi Moi depends on the quantity and the Moi Moi container you used.
The Moi Moi that gets done quickest is the one wrapped in Uma or Banana leaves, followed by Moi Moi wrapped in aluminum foils then the one that takes the most time is Moi Moi cooked in aluminium or plastic plates.
But whatever Moi Moi container you use, it is advisable to cook your Moi Moi for at least 1 hour, before checking it. Confirm that it is done by putting a knife through it, if the knife is stained with Moi Moi paste, then the Moi Moi is not done, but if the knife just has a slight smear of Moi Moi, then it's done. Also, when you cut through the Moi Moi, the insides will be set and not watery.
If you are cooking a few wraps of Moi Moi in a small pot on high heat, then it will only take about 45 minutes to get done while when you are cooking a large pot of Moi Moi, it will definitely take more than one hour.