Early this week, I had my Instagram followers drooling over this special meal. The last time I ate this was definitely while growing up as a kid in Cameroon. You have to know that, the beans they grow in Cameroon is very different from the ones we grow here in Nigeria. In Cameroon, they grow navy beans, pinto beans, red beans, black turtle beans and their other relatives. A friend who just returned from Cameroon, brought me some black turtle beans, and you needed to have been there to see the joy all over my face. The recipe for this has been stuck in my head since childhood and I am sharing it with you today. 

Before we start, let me share with you some photos of the raw black turtle beans that I took

I am sure you have noticed that some white and red beans found their way in. Remember I told you that, different colors are grown in Cameroon. So, I am thinking that maybe during the packaging process, the farmers were not careful enough. This also happens in Nigeria. There are many times when I bought brown beans at our market and saw a few white grains while picking. I usually just pick and throw them out for no concrete reason, other than the fact that they are white.

One other thing I must tell you is that, you need a pressure pot to be able to quickly cook this beans to perfection.

No wonder it is called “turtle”_ the shell is as hard as a turtle shell. When I was cooking mine, I set the time just the way I would when making Nigerian beans. To my greatest surprise, 1 hour and 10 minutes later, the water had dried up and the beans was only half-way cooked. I had to add more water and cook it for an extra 1 hour, before I got that perfect softness.

This is everything you will need to make this

• Cooked Black Turtle Beans
• Potatoes
• Yellow Scotch Bonnet
• Red, Yellow and Green Bell Peppers
• Ginger and Garlic
• 1 Medium Onion
• Onion leaves
• Celery leaves
• Leek
• Curry leaves
• Tomatoes
• Curry powder and Salt
• Seasoning cubes and Salt
• Oil

Before you start, you will use a blender to make 3 mixtures_ yellow, green and red

*YELLOW MIXTURE: blend the yellow scotch bonnet, yellow bell pepper, onion, ginger and garlic.

*GREEN MIXTURE: blend the onion leaves, celery leaves, leek, curry leaves and green bell pepper

*RED MIXTURE: blend the tomatoes and red bell pepper

Make sure the potatoes are peeled and cut in small chunks.

Add some oil in a heavy-bottom pot. Use low heat to fry the chopped onion. Stir in the curry and thyme.

Pour the yellow mixture and stir.

Add the seasoning powder, salt and stir

Pour the green and red mixtures and stir.

Add the red mixture and stir. Check if the salt is enough. If it is enough, cover and let the potatoes cook on medium-high heat until they are soft.

Once the potatoes are soft, fold in the cooked beans and give it a nice stir.

Cover the pot and and let it be for 10 minutes on very low the heat. Make sure to stir from time to time, so it doesn’t start burning underneath. This process just allows the sauce and the beans to sort of come together.

Put off the fire and serve it hot.

You can sprinkle whole curry or parsley leaves on top to show off your plating skills😀😀

Thank you so much friends! This is all I have for you today and I hope you take this to your kitchens. Feel free to use the comments section to ask me questions regarding this recipe or go to the contact page to see all the different ways you can reach me privately. You can also click here, to learn about the heath benefits of the black turtle beans.

Bye for now and hopefully, see you soon!