Benin | Main dish

Amiwo

A savoury red corn porridge cooked in a rich tomato and crab sauce. The cornmeal absorbs the tomato colour and flavour, turning a beautiful red-orange.

Country
Benin
Region
West Africa
Time
60 min
Serves
6
Level
medium
Explore Benin recipes Open interactive cooking mode
Recipe overview

Visible recipe content ships in HTML from the first paint

Amiwo is a celebratory dish from southern Benin, always present at ceremonies and important gatherings. The red colour from the tomato sauce symbolises joy and festivity in Fon culture.

What the dish tastes like

A savoury red corn porridge cooked in a rich tomato and crab sauce. The cornmeal absorbs the tomato colour and flavour, turning a beautiful red-orange.

When to cook it

Best for Celebrations and ceremonies, with a medium cooking level and about 60 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Fried chicken or grilled fish

Servings: 6

The core SEO content is fully visible in HTML. The controls above only recalculate ingredients and nutrition client-side for convenience.

How to cook it

Step-by-step instructions

Back to Benin
1
Make the tomato sauce
Heat oil, fry onion until soft. Add tomato paste and cook 3 minutes. Add blended tomatoes and cook until reduced and thick, about 15 minutes.
Cook sauce 15:00
2
Add crab
Add crab meat to the sauce and stir. Cook for 5 minutes.
Cook crab 05:00
3
Add cornmeal
Add 3 cups water to the sauce. Bring to a boil. Gradually sprinkle in cornmeal while stirring constantly to prevent lumps.
4
Cook the amiwo
Reduce heat to low. Stir continuously for 15-20 minutes until the cornmeal is cooked through and pulls away from the pot sides.
The colour should be a vibrant red-orange.
Cook amiwo 20:00
5
Serve
Shape into a mound on a plate. Serve with fried chicken or grilled fish.

Regional variations and live helpers still layer on top through AfroKitchen’s interactive surfaces. This static page is the crawlable starting point, while the fallback template handles extra kitchen tools when needed.

Keep exploring

More AfroKitchen dishes from the same food atlas

Clean recipe routes are preferred whenever this wave has generated them. Remaining dishes still resolve through the interactive fallback until the next static expansion.

Benin | Static route

Kuli-Kuli

Crunchy groundnut crackers made by extracting the oil from peanut paste, then shaping and deep-frying the remaining cake. A bel...

45 min | Snack
Benin | Static route

Grilled Wagasi

Beninese soft white cheese grilled until golden and served with a spicy piment sauce. A unique West African cheese snack with a...

20 min | Snack
Burkina Faso | Static route

Riz Gras

Burkina Faso's rich one-pot rice cooked in a meat and tomato broth with vegetables. The rice is "fat" from absorbing all the fl...

70 min | Main dish
Cape Verde | Static route

Cachupa Rica

Cape Verde's national dish — a rich, slow-cooked stew of hominy corn, beans, and multiple meats and sausages. The "rica" (rich)...

150 min | Recipe
Browse AfroKitchen Explore Benin recipes