Kontomire Stew (Palaver Sauce) Ghanaian

Medium·25 min

A deep green, oily Ghanaian stew of finely chopped cocoyam (taro) leaves stewed down with ground melon seeds, smoked fish and palm oil. Earthy, rich and faintly bitter, it is eaten with boiled yam, plantain, rice or gari.

Oil

Among the Akan it is simply kontomire, after the cocoyam leaves that give it its color; along the Fante coast it picked up the English name palaver sauce. The name is said to come from the trading town of Elmina, where Portuguese traders haggled and talked endlessly with locals over the terms of trade — 'palavra' (Portuguese for 'word' or 'talk') came to mean exactly that drawn-out negotiating, and the name stuck to the dish. The melon-seed version became a Sunday-table favorite across southern Ghana.

The first spoonful is all texture: silky stewed leaves slicked in red palm oil with the gentle grit of melon seed. Smoked and salted fish pull through with a deep, almost savory funk, and the cocoyam greens leave a clean, faintly bitter finish that begs for a piece of soft boiled yam.

Parboiling the cocoyam leaves drives off the raphide irritants while keeping their color, and the ground melon seed both thickens the sauce and emulsifies the palm oil so it clings to every shred of green.

Variations

with agushi (melon seed) ground in for a thicker stew, with garden eggs mashed into the base, made vegan without fish, or finished with raw hot palm oil poured over

On the Palate

Where Kontomire Stew (Palaver Sauce) Ghanaian sits in the Ghanaian flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 4

How it's made

8 steps · 25 min

1
10 min
Wash and finely shred the cocoyam (taro) leaves, then parboil briefly in salted water and drain.
Watch out
Parboil the shredded leaves briefly to drive off the raphide irritants while keeping them green — do not skip this or they will scratch the throat.
2
5 min
Heat red palm oil in a pot and fry sliced onions until soft and fragrant.
3
8 min
Stir in blended tomatoes, chili and a little ground melon seed (egusi), cooking until the oil separates.
Watch out
Fry the tomato-chili-egusi base until the palm oil separates and pools — that split is the sign the base is properly cooked and the raw edge is gone.
4
4 min
Add flaked smoked fish and salted dried fish, season with salt and a stock cube.
5
6 min
Fold in the drained kontomire leaves and simmer so they absorb the oily sauce.
6
5 min
Add the remaining egusi to thicken and cook a few more minutes until just set.
Watch out
Add the rest of the egusi to thicken and cook just until it sets — the ground melon seed binds the sauce so it clings to every shred of green.
7
2 min
Taste and adjust seasoning, then let the stew rest off the heat.
8
2 min
Serve hot with boiled yam, ripe plantain or rice.