KOKI BEANS RECIPE

Written by on in African Dinner, Cameroonian Food, Dinner, Precious Kitchen
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 Hmmmm Koki Beans… It is one of the things I miss about Cameroon. Ahh! It is a popular street food – a pudding made with black-eyed peas (koki beans). The taste is out of this world! It never lasts in my house. Because as soon as Koki Beans is cooked, I do not rest till it is all resting happily ever after in my belly. Ha.

 

 

Imagine my joy when I discovered the universality of Koki Beans. It is called black-eyed peas in the United States. It is called moin moin beans in Nigeria. I’m sure other countries have a name for it but I just do not know it.

 

koki beans - black eyed peas

 

In Cameroon, blackeyed peas are either used to make koki beans or accra beans. They are hardly used for bean stew. We like grinding then and “hiding” themin fritters and puddings. When made into this amazing pudding called Koki Beans, I could give an arm for it.  Nigerians make something similar and they call it, Moin Moin. Moin Moin and Koki Beans are both delicious. I call them, African cakes. 

 

Koki Beans Recipe - Precious Core
So how does this taste? Thank you for asking! It is savoury, spicy (with the heat from the pepper), moist, and spongy.

 

Making this could take some time but I promise you every bite is worth it! The bulk of the work usually lies in washing the beans. This includes peeling the beans and seperating it from its outer skin. I made a video to show you how I do it.
 
I start by soaking beans in water for about 5- 10 minutes. Then I put it in a blender and pulse for a few seconds. Don’t worry the blender doesn’t grind it. It just takes the skin off. When I have peeled all of the beans, I put it in a large bowl and pour water into the bowl, above the level of the beans. The skins float and I drain them using a colander. I repeat the process until the beans are free of the outer skin. Watch this video to see how I peel the beans.

 

I crush the beans into a slightly grainy paste using my fantastic blender. I can’t recommend this baby enough!

(Yup, affiliate link.)

blended Koki Beans_

I use a whisk to whisk the hell out of my bean paste so it traps in air and is spongy just like “Mami Koki’s.” Mami Koki is the generic name for any woman who sells Koki Beans in Cameroon. I love those women.

 

I add in all other ingredients and mix. And by all other ingredients, I mean, palm oil, salt, spinach (a substitute for the traditional cocoyam leaves) and water. This is a really low maintenance meal. It doesn’t require many ingredients. Some people add in Maggi (seasoning cubes) but that is not necessary at all.

 

mixing koki beans
Now is the time for wrapping! Ideally, warmed plantain or banana leaves are used. I use banana leaves and foil paper. But if you can’t find banana leaves, just use foil paper, preferably the non-stick one.

Look at that little cute bundle!

wrapped koki beans
I love unraveling and enjoying it while it is still warm. The smell that hits me when I open a bundle is priceless. Oh la la!

 

hot Koki beans Cameroon
I love eating koki with boiled ripe plantains. They are a match made in heaven. Period.
 Koki beans Cameroon

Watch the video to see me whipping up some dee-licious koki beans in my kitchen. Check out the printable recipe below.

5 from 1 vote
Koki Beans Recipe - Precious Core
Print
Koki Beans Recipe
Prep Time
1 hr
Cook Time
1 hr 30 mins
Total Time
2 hrs 30 mins
 

A savory pudding made with black-eyed peas. It is moist, spongy and so tasty.

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Cameroonian
Servings: 12 bundles
Author: Precious of preciouscore.com
Ingredients
  • 8 cups black eyed peas (koki beans) - peeled, soaked and rinsed
  • 1 1/2 cups palm oil
  • 1 bag spinach (8 oz/227 grams)
  • 1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons salt
  • 6 cups water
  • 5 chili peppers (or other hot pepper to taste)
For wrapping
  • 1 bag frozen banana leaves and/ or 1 roll aluminium foil (preferably non-stick)foil
Instructions

  1. Put the soaked beans into a blender and blend together with 4 cups of water and all the pepper into a coarse paste. You need to blend your beans in batches. I blended mine twice so two cups of water went into each batch (To see how I wash and soak the beans before blending, please watch this video.)

  2. Pour the ground beans into a large bowl. 

  3. Lightly warm the palm oil. Do not bleach it. Set aside.

  4. Chop the spinach into large chunks. You can use as much or as little spinach as you need. Set aside.

  5. Add salt into bean paste and mix, using an egg whisk so you can trap in air. This makes for a spongy texture.

  6. Add oil into the bean paste while whisking continuously. Mix until the oil is well incorporated. At this point, taste to ensure that it is well salted. It should taste slightly more salty than it should be. When it cooks, the taste will balance up. 

  7. Now add your chopped spinach and gently fold into the mixture.

  8. Prepare your banana leaves for wrapping by warming them over a flame or immersing them in hot water. Wash them thoroughly and cut into rectangles. If using just aluminum foil, no need to do this.

  9. Wrap the koki by placing foil paper cut into a rectangle in a small deep bowl. The part right above the bowl should be lightly pressed to fill the bowl. Add on banana leaf cut into a rectangle or another foil paper. Pour in one cup of the bean mixture. Then wrap by bringing together all the edges of the inner foil paper or banana leaf then equally bringing together the edges of the outer foil paper to form a bundle.

  10. Place the bundle into a pot lined with foil paper or banana leaves. Pour in two cups of hot water, cover all the wraps with more foil paper then bring to a boil. After about 15 minutes, add in about 1-2 cups of water. Let it cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Be sure to check from time to time so it doesn't burn.

  11. Unravel a bundle and serve warm with boiled ripe plantains or any starchy side of choice. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

To get eight cups of soaked beans for this recipe, soak four cups of dried beans.

For a smaller quantity of koki beans, halve the recipe if you so wish.

Optional ingredients you could add in are Maggi (seasoning cubes) and onions. But those are not necessary. Koki is traditionally made without them. It tastes perfect without them.

Koki beans (blackeyed peas pudding) - Precious Core
*Recipe updated after first posted on March 31, 2016.pre-signature-pro

28 Comments

  1. Angele marie
    April 1, 2016 at 4:17 pm  ·  Reply

    Precious u go finish me with langa. Weh mami koki. Shiny koki

  2. Precious Nkeih
    April 2, 2016 at 3:16 am  ·  Reply

    Lol langa is allowed. I miss Mami Koki…

  3. julia shubs
    August 15, 2016 at 12:43 pm  ·  Reply

    omg. diet on break. if i no chop this today i go die

    • ladame
      January 24, 2019 at 5:25 am  ·  Reply

      please can i do the koki with unpeeled beans? any disadvantages if i use unpeeled beans

      • Precious
        February 5, 2019 at 6:38 pm  ·  Reply

        Hi Ladame, you can definitely use unpeeled beans. Your koki might have little bits of the peelings in it but that’s okay and the bean skin is actually good for your body. Hope this helps.

  5. Doly
    November 14, 2016 at 4:21 pm  ·  Reply

    Dear i live in italy and here i only see ane item called black eyed beans o occhio nero. Is it koki ? Can i buy it and use it that way ? I miss ndole and here they sale dry better leaves from Nigeria, it’s ndole right ?
    Please help me understand it so that i can know what to buy or not. Thanks sister

  6. Doly
    November 14, 2016 at 5:31 pm  ·  Reply

    Thank you sont much for responding so early. Will follow you on YouTube facebook and here. As a matter of fact i posted on your facebook page minutes ago

  7. Joy
    February 10, 2017 at 1:00 am  ·  Reply

    Hello precious am Ur number 1 fan, Ur recipes are just so delicious.

  8. Bola
    February 25, 2017 at 3:34 am  ·  Reply

    Hehehehe, this is one of my fav meals.
    Yes, it’s moinmoin in Nigeria, if you add ingredients lik crayfish, Titus fish, egg, liver etc, then it becomes ‘moinmoin elemi meje’ (moinmoin with seven spirits) in yoruba dialect.
    Try it with garri soaked in chilled water, ohlala!

  9. Cheechee
    February 26, 2017 at 2:19 am  ·  Reply

    It looks more like okpa than moimoi.I wonder how it will taste without Maggi because my moimoi is not complete without Maggi.
    I like the vegetables you out inside it.
    I think it will be a good idea to put a leaf like scent leaf in my moimoi.

    http://www.CheecheeLive.com

    • Precious
      February 26, 2017 at 8:51 am  ·  Reply

      Oh you reminded me of okpa! Yes it looks like okpa but okpa is harder than this. Scent leaf in moin moin sounds interesting. Hopefully, the scent leaf flavour doesn’t take over that of the moin moin.

  10. Dominika Goodness
    February 26, 2017 at 7:25 am  ·  Reply

    Precious this seems like a delicious meal, it looks so savoury, mouth watering, and shiny. our Nigerian version “moi moi ” is also a good option, thank God you have tasted it. I look forward to tasting this koki beans one day. by the way great pictures, bless you Precious dear.

  11. Ahone
    February 28, 2017 at 7:40 am  ·  Reply

    Woow beautiful picture. Just looking at it, makes my mouth watering. I love koki!!!

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  15. Claudia
    November 21, 2017 at 10:36 am  ·  Reply

    Hi Precious, how many Habanero Peppe would this reicepe require instead of Chilies? It should be nice and spicy for my husband but not burning his mouth.

  16. Claudia
    November 22, 2017 at 4:08 am  ·  Reply

    Thank you for your answer. I wanted to do half of the reicipe and soaked 4 cups of dried beans but now I’m unsure if i should have taken the 4 cups once the beans have been soaked? Also in case i have too much now, is it possible to store the remaining beans in the fridge to do Accra Beans tomorrow?

    • Precious
      November 22, 2017 at 8:42 am  ·  Reply

      You actually need 8 cups of beans. The 8 cups should be measured after the beans have been soaked. 4 cups of dried beans should give you about 8 cups of beans after the soaking process. Hope this makes sense.
      And yes, you can store some in the fridge for Accra Beans. I do that sometimes.

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