Recipe: Watsi or Ayimolou (Rice with Black-eyed peas)

Source: https://leanascooking.wixsite.com/leanascooking/post/recette-du-watsi-ayimolou-wachi-atassi-waykee-wache-riz-et-haricots

List of ingredients:

-        2 or 3 cups Black-eyed peas

-         800g of rice

-        1 tablespoon of potash (sodium bicarbonate

-        1/2 onion sliced

-        1 tablespoon of oil (coconut oil, olive or other)

-         Salt

Personal comments/Reflection

I accompanied this dish with baked chicken (1 leg), a little bit of coconut oil and chili powder and salt. However, Watsi can also be served with tomato stew and fried fish. As you can notice in the picture, the result is satisfying. I cooked this dish traditionally (No rice cooker), as we use to cook the regular rice. Something important I want to point out is that the black-eyed peas need more time to cook well, so you need to boil them for 10 to 15 minutes before adding the rice. Furthermore, I always had to check the quantity of water while cooking Watsi and add water regularly or when needed. The weekly technique has been incorporated by cooking the rice and the peas together. Watsi represents specifically the food culture of West African Muslims.  This dish is mostly consumed in the morning (as a breakfast), but some people in West Africa use to consume it at any time of the day. I choose this dish because it is one of our main dishes in my country (Togo). Watsi/ayimolo is also part of the culture of other countries in West Africa such as Ghana, Benin, and Nigeria. In most of these countries, Watsi is recognized as more part of the culture of Muslims.