Ghanaian Palava Sauce Recipe - Venison or Lamb Palaver from Ghana (2024)

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5 from 6 votes

By Hank Shaw

March 01, 2021

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Nobody really knows why this West African stew of meat and greens is called palava sauce, or, alternately, palaver sauce, but it is a recipe worth adding to your repertoire.

Normally made with beef, lamb or goat, I’ve made my rendition with venison. Some versions have only fish, a few are vegetarian, but all rely on lots of greens, onions, chiles and a touch of spice.

Ghanaian Palava Sauce Recipe - Venison or Lamb Palaver from Ghana (2)

A palaver is an old word for a long discussion or argument, but exactly how that became the name of this stew remains a mystery — although leaving the “r” off and calling it palava sauce makes perfect sense given the way English is spoken in much of West Africa; like New Englanders, they aren’t much for the hard “r” on the ends of words.

This stew, or something very much like it, is found all over West Africa, but my version is Ghanaian. I took for my inspiration several African cookbooks I own, but I leaned most heavily on Zoe Adjonyoh’s excellent Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen, which I highly recommend.

At its core, palava sauce is something of a curry, with meat and lots of greens. It can be as spicy as you want it to be, in both senses of the word. At the very least, you will want some chile in there, ideally Scotch bonnets or their more easily found cousins, the habanero.

I also use some ingredients not easily found other than online, such as grains of Selim, also known as hwentia. You can buy hwentia online if you’d like, or leave it out. It adds a certain floral aroma to the stew you won’t get otherwise, but it’s not 100 percent necessary.

What is vital for palava sauce is another unusual ingredient, agushi, or egusi. Agushi is ground melon seeds. Like hwentia, you can buy agushi online, but you don’t need to. Most supermarkets, and even a lot of convenience stores, carry pepitas, those green pumpkin seeds. Use those. They are, more or less, the same.

(Looking for more wild food from Africa? Try my recipe for Senegalese venison shank mafe.)

Like the meat, you can use whatever greens you’d like. I used some Atriplex hortensis, orache, that I grow in my yard, but spinach or chard would be your normal substitution. Pretty much any green leafy thing will work, just know that collards take longer to cook than spinach.

Finally, it is traditional to add ground, dried shrimp to palava sauce. I like the addition, and it doesn’t make the dish fishy-shrimpy at all. It just adds a savory note. Most Asian or Latin markets carry dried shrimp, but yes, you can skip this, too. I’d recommend a few splashes of Asian fish sauce or Worcestershire as a substitute.

Serve your palava sauce over simple steamed rice, and, if you want to make a cool Ghanaian meal out of it, some Ghanaian red red.

5 from 6 votes

Ghanaian Palava Sauce

Your meat and greens are variable here, so use what you have. Once made, this keeps well in the fridge for a week. This, some rice, and a some red red beans is a great combination.

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Course: lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: West African

Servings: 8 servings

Author: Hank Shaw

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours hours

Total Time: 2 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Ingredients

SPICY TOMATO SAUCE

  • 1 white or yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
  • 2 cups tomato puree, fire-roasted if possible
  • 1 to 4 habanero peppers, chopped
  • Salt

STEW

  • 3 tablespoons red palm oil, lard, or vegetable oil
  • 1 large white or yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 pounds venison, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  • 4 hwentia (grains of Selim), crushed (optional)
  • Salt
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons ground, dried shrimp or fish sauce
  • 1 cup agushi or ground pepitas (See note below)
  • 1/2 pound chopped greens

Instructions

  • First make the tomato sauce by pureeing everything in a blender. My advice is to add 1/2 a habanero first, puree, then see how you like it. I like it with the full four... Set the sauce aside for now.

  • In a soup pot, heat the palm oil over medium heat and cook the onions, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Stir in the venison and cook another 5 minutes, then add the garlic, ginger, and all the spices. Stir well, cover the pot and turn the heat to low. Let this cook gently for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice.

  • Now pour in enough water to cover everything, bring it to a simmer and add salt to taste. Add the ground, dried shrimp now, if you are using it. Cook gently with the lid on until the venison is tender, anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours.

  • Stir in the tomato sauce, cover the pot, and let this simmer 20 minutes. Stir in the agushi and the greens. The stew will seize up a little, so keep stirring until the greens wilt. Cook only until they are tender. Add more salt if you want. Serve with simple steamed rice.

Notes

If you are using pepitas, grind them in a spice grinder for this recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 322kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 96mg | Sodium: 269mg | Potassium: 936mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 3638IU | Vitamin C: 29mg | Calcium: 99mg | Iron: 7mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe? Tag me today!Mention @huntgathercook or tag #hankshaw!

Categorized as:
African, Featured, Recipe, Venison, Wild Game

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About Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet’s largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

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Ghanaian Palava Sauce Recipe - Venison or Lamb Palaver from Ghana (2024)

FAQs

What is palava sauce made of? ›

Palaver sauce (also spelled palava sauce) is a Ghanaian green leaf stew which often consists of a mixture of meat and dried fish, cooked in one pot along with lush green leafy vegetables such as taro leaves, spinach or amaranth leaves (callaloo). The ground seeds of bitter melon are also added.

What is the history of palava sauce? ›

Palaver sauce or palava sauce or plasas is a type of stew widely eaten in West Africa, including Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. The word palaver comes from the Portuguese language and means a talk, lengthy debate or quarrel. It is unclear how this led to the name of the stew.

What are the health benefits of palava sauce? ›

It has high antioxidant properties which help reduce blood pressure and the risk of getting heart attacks. Minerals such as calcium, iron are found in large amount. Homefoods' Vegetable Oil is a high quality cooking palm oil containing rich natural source of beta carotene (pro-vitamin A).

What is the English name for Kontomire? ›

Colocasia leaves / Taro leaves.

What is the oldest sauce? ›

Sauce is a French word taken from the Latin salsa, meaning salted. Possibly the oldest recorded European sauce is garum, the fish sauce used by the Ancient Romans, while doubanjiang, the Chinese soy bean paste is mentioned in Rites of Zhou in the 3rd century BC.

What is the most popular food in Liberia? ›

Rice is a staple of the Liberia diet, whether commercial or country ("swamp rice"), and either served "dry" (without a sauce), with stew or soup poured over it, cooked into the classic jollof rice, or ground into a flour to make country breh (bread).

What does Cantonese sauce taste of? ›

Cantonese sauce is a sweet and tangy sauce with a reddish brown color. Its predominant flavors are of salt, garlic and citrus. It is typically made with soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar and cornstarch, with a slightly viscous texture. It is popular in Chinese cuisines and goes well with meat and vegetable dishes.

What Flavour is Algerian sauce? ›

An emulsified tomato sauce that's both sweet and spicy with the flavour of spiced onions. A key player in the world sauces market.

What is sauce creole made from? ›

This classic Creole sauce is made with canned tomatoes, celery, colorful bell peppers, onions, and garlic, along with seasonings and herbs that make it extra flavorful. This sauce is delicious spooned over shrimp and grits, fried eggplant, or chicken breasts. It can also be an unconventional pasta sauce.

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