In a culturally diverse country such as South Africa, you have to search far and wide for a dish that is unfamiliar and even a bit unconventional. In walks Thuli Ncha, who is married to a Cameroonian national and has adapted her cooking style to satisfy both her South African family and her husband’s staunch taste for his homeland’s cooking.
Mother of three, Thuli has taught herself to keep the taste buds tingling in her house as she has to cater for a diverse range of tastes. Not only has she adapted her cooking style to suit her husband’s Cameroonian palate, but she also puts her personal twist on her dishes to keep meals appetizing for the young ones in the house. She has been dubbed the honourary cook at family get-togethers, as she likes to experiment with different spices and flavours. Thuli treated Rustenburg Herald to the West African dish known as Okra Fish draw soup – nothing short of a flavour explosion and definitely unlike anything this journalist has tasted before!
Ingredients:
Two pieces of fresh mackerel, chopped into three parts each
200g chopped okra
100g frozen spinach (optional)
1 medium chopped onion
1/2 green, yellow and red peppers
2 basil leaves
1/2 tsp of black pepper powder
1 tps salt
2 tp crayfish powder
Any spices of your choice
1 beef cube
Method:
Add Sunflower oil to the pan
Add chopped onions and peppers and let it fry for 3min, then season with spices (to taste)
Boil okra in a separate pot for 3 min
Add the washed fish and place into the pan
Stir well, wait a few seconds and then add chopped okra
Stir the soup well
Add the blended okra and spinach and allow it to simmer for approximately ten minutes
Serve and enjoy!
Pro tip: Experiment with other types of meat and spices to give this dish your personal stamp!
