Ebbeh — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A distinctive stew made with garden eggs (African eggplant) and bitter tomatoes simmered with dried fish and palm oil, offering a uniquely Gambian flavor profile.

Ingredients

500g garden eggs (African eggplant), quartered
4 bitter tomatoes, chopped
300g smoked bonga fish
3 tbsp palm oil
2 large onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
200g dried shrimp, ground
2 Maggi cubes
1 Scotch bonnet pepper
Salt to taste
3 cups water

Instructions

1 Wash garden eggs and bitter tomatoes. Quarter the garden eggs and chop the bitter tomatoes.
2 Heat palm oil in a large pot. Saute onions and garlic until softened.
3 Add ground dried shrimp and stir for three minutes until fragrant.
4 Add garden eggs and bitter tomatoes. Stir and cook for ten minutes until starting to soften.
5 Add smoked fish, water, Maggi cubes, and Scotch bonnet. Bring to a simmer.
6 Cook for thirty minutes until the vegetables are very tender and the stew has thickened. Serve with rice.

Did You Know?

Bitter tomatoes are an acquired taste that many Gambians develop in childhood, and the unique bittersweet flavor of ebbeh is considered irreplaceable by those who love it.