Fouti

Ingredients

Rice

• 500 glong grain rice
• 1 litrewater or stock
• 2 teaspoonssalt

Vegetables

• 300 gokra, sliced
• 2aubergines, cubed
• or 6 garden eggs, quartered
• 2green peppers, chopped
• 3tomatoes, chopped

The base

• 3onions, sliced
• 5garlic cloves, crushed
• 5 tablespoonsred palm oil
• or 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoonstomato paste
• 2stock cubes
• 2chillies, chopped
• black pepper

To finish

• 2onions, sliced and fried until crisp
• extra palm oil

To serve

• fried or grilled fish
• pepper sauce

Directions

1. Warm it gently to melt it before use. Never let palm oil smoke or bleach in the pan. Rinse the okra and pat it dry. Trim off all of the stem ends. Slice it into thin even rounds. Chop the peppers and tomatoes. Slice the onions thinly as well. Heat oil in a pan to a shallow depth. Add the sliced onions for the topping. Fry them slowly until deep golden and crisp. Give them about fifteen minutes.
2. Stir them regularly so they colour evenly. Lift them out onto kitchen paper. Warm the palm oil gently in a large pot. Add the remaining sliced onions. Cook them for about eight minutes. Add the crushed garlic and the chillies. Cook them for a good two minutes. Stir the tomato paste in as well. Fry it for a good two minutes.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pot. Cook them down for about six minutes. Add the cubed aubergine and the peppers. Cook them for about eight minutes. They should soften but not collapse.
4. Crumble the stock cubes into it. Season it with salt and black pepper. Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Drain it very thoroughly indeed. Add it to the pot with the vegetables. Stir it through so every grain is coated. Let it fry for about two minutes. Adding the liquid needs measuring.
5. Pour in the water or the stock. Use about two parts liquid to one of rice. Bring the whole pot up to a boil. Adding the okra is done at that point. Stir the sliced okra through the pot.
6. Add it now rather than earlier. Stir it in once and then leave it. Cover the pot with a tight lid. Let it cook for about twenty minutes. Do not lift the lid at any point. Take the pot off the heat entirely. Leave the lid on and let it stand. Give it a full ten minutes to rest.
7. Taste it and adjust the salt to suit. Serving it is done piping hot. Spoon it onto plates or a platter. Scatter the crisp fried onion over the top. Serve fried or grilled fish alongside. Put pepper sauce on the table. It keeps two days refrigerated.

Technique

• The vegetables cook with the rice in a single pot rather than as a sauce served over it, which is what distinguishes fouti from a plain riz sauce.
• The okra binds the whole dish with its natural mucilage, giving a slightly sticky texture that is expected and wanted.
• Garden eggs are small West African aubergines, firmer and more bitter than the purple kind, and that bitterness is part of the flavour.

Substitutions

• Ordinary aubergine stands in for garden eggs.
• Vegetable oil replaces red palm oil, though it changes the character considerably.

Variations

• Some cooks add smoked fish to the pot.
• A version with less okra is made for those who dislike the texture.
• The dish is also called lafidi in parts of Guinea.

History

A Guinean household rice dish of the coastal region, often eaten at midday with fish.

Frequently asked questions

What is Fouti?

Fouti is a main from Guinea: rice cooked with okra, eggplant and peppers, finished with fried onion. A Guinean household rice dish of the coastal region, often eaten at midday with fish.

How long does Fouti take to make?

Fouti takes 30 minutes of preparation and 45 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Fouti?

Yes, within limits. Ordinary aubergine stands in for garden eggs. Vegetable oil replaces red palm oil, though it changes the character considerably.

What is the most important thing to get right in Fouti?

Warm it gently to melt it before use. Never let palm oil smoke or bleach in the pan. Rinse the okra and pat it dry. Trim off all of the stem ends. Slice it into thin even rounds. Chop the peppers and tomatoes. Slice the onions thinly as well. Heat oil in a pan to a shallow depth. Add the sliced onions for the topping. Fry them slowly until deep golden and crisp. Give them about fifteen minutes.