Senegal | Street food

Ndambe

Name: Ndambe
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 80 min
Total time: 100 min
Yield: 6 bowls
Cuisine: Senegal, West Africa
Ingredients: 2 cups black-eyed peas, soaked; 2 large onions, chopped; 4 medium tomatoes, chopped; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper, left whole or chopped; 1 tsp paprika; 3 tbsp oil; 5 cups water; salt and pepper, to taste

Senegalese black-eyed pea stew simmered with tomato, onion, chile, and spices, often served in bread.

Country

Senegal

Region

West Africa

Time

100 min

Serves

Level

easy

Explore Senegal recipes Browse AfroKitchen

Recipe overview

What to know before you cook

Ndambe is Senegalese black-eyed pea stew, rich with tomato and onion and often tucked into bread as a filling street-food breakfast or snack.

What the dish tastes like

Senegalese black-eyed pea stew simmered with tomato, onion, chile, and spices, often served in bread.

When to cook it

Best for Best for breakfast sandwiches, lunch bowls, and budget-friendly meal prep., with a easy cooking level and about 100 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Baguette, rice, couscous, or salad.

Regional lane

Street and sweet table. Market snacks, bean sandwiches, grills, and millet desserts.

Chef watch-outs

Stopping the base before the pepper, onion, or spice edge has mellowed.
Thinning the pot before the body of the soup or stew has developed.
Rushing the rest or fermentation period.

How you know it is ready

The sauce should coat the spoon and taste rounded, not watery or raw.
The bread or batter should smell pleasantly fermented, toasted, or nutty rather than floury.
The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.

Pantry lane

broken rice, dried fish, netetou, peanut paste, tamarind

Chef board

Build the table around Ndambe

Baguette, rice, couscous, or salad.

Best route from here

Street and sweet table

Collections to keep cooking

West African Street Food

Servings 6

Scale the dish before you shop, then use the checklist while you cook.

Ingredients

For 6 bowls

Street food

Beans

2 cups black-eyed peas, soaked

Sauce

2 large onions, chopped 4 medium tomatoes, chopped 2 tbsp tomato paste

Heat

1 whole scotch bonnet pepper, left whole or chopped

Spices

1 tsp paprika

Fat

3 tbsp oil

Liquid

5 cups water

Pantry

salt and pepper, to taste

How to cook it

Step-by-step method

Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.

Back to Senegal

4 steps 100 min total easy

Cook beans

Cook soaked black-eyed peas in water until tender.

beans 45:00

Make sauce

Cook onions, tomatoes, tomato paste, pepper, paprika, salt, and pepper in oil until thick.

tomato sauce 20:00

Simmer together

Add cooked beans and a little bean liquid. Simmer until creamy and thick.

stew 15:00

Serve

Serve in bread or over rice, with extra pepper if desired.

serve 02:00

Some versions include meat, but black-eyed peas in tomato sauce are the common heart of the dish.

Ndambe

What to know before you cook

Build the table around Ndambe

Step-by-step method

More AfroKitchen dishes from the same food atlas

Thieboudienne

Ceebu Yapp

Chicken Yassa

Dibi