Red Red — Black-Eyed Peas with Fried Plantain

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked black-eyed peas, drained (or 1 can, rinsed)
• 3 tbsp red palm oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cup crushed tomatoes
• 1 tsp ground dried chili
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• 2 ripe plantains, sliced on the bias
• Neutral oil, for frying
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Warm the palm oil over medium until it turns clear and stops smelling waxy, about 2 minutes. Cook the onion in it until soft and just starting to color, 6 minutes.
2. Add the garlic, chili, and paprika for 30 seconds, then the tomato paste. Fry the paste until it darkens to brick red and sticks to the pan — that stubborn stage is where the flavor lives.
3. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and ½ cup water, then the peas. Simmer 15 minutes until the sauce clings and the peas start to break at the edges. Season with salt.
4. Meanwhile shallow-fry the plantain slices in hot neutral oil until deep gold on both sides, 2–3 minutes a side, and salt them the second they leave the pan.
5. Spoon the stew into bowls and lean the plantains against the side. The sweet-savory contrast is the entire argument for this dish.