Asaro | yam & sweet potato porridge with spinach

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Asaro also known as yam porridge or pottage is a dish made with yam or yam and sweet potatoes. It can be cooked with or without vegetables. You can add fish, meat, shrimps or crayfish. It is a very simple dish that can be cooked to your desired taste by adding whatever you desire.

• Peel yam and sweet potatoes, cut them into different sizes (big & small). Rinse and soak in water until ready for use.
• Blend bell peppers, habanero peppers, onion and the heads of shrimps and set aside.
• In a large pot, pour some palm oil and heat it up over medium heat. Pour in the pepper blend when it is hot enough. Cook it for about 5 - 10 minutes then add the smoked/baked mackerel fish, salt and seasoning cubes for about 20 - 30 minutes, stirring it intermittently until it has reduced and is more glossy. Remove the fish from the sauce, add some water (2 cups), yam and sweet potatoes and salt to taste. Stir it, add the remaining water, cover and cook until the yam is done. The yam is done when a knife or fork can go through it easily. Stir it and cover to cook for another 5 minutes so that the yam and potatoes will become softer.
• Return the fish back to the pot, add the cut spinach and stir the porridge intermittently for  5 minutes or until it becomes thick . Overcooking and stirring the porridge make it easier for the yam and potatoes to breakdown  thereby forming a thick porridge

Ingredients

1/2 yam tuber

2 large sweet potatoes

2 bell peppers

3 habanero peppers

1 large onion

1 cup palmoil

2 seasoning cubes

2 baked/smoked mackerel fish

1 cup dried shrimps

Handful spinach

4 cups water

Salt