Attieke

Attieke is a staple food here in Ivory coast. It is couscous made out of cassava or manioc. Cassava is skinned, chopped, and ground. This is allowed to ferment along with some old cassava which is already fermented in water, sun-dried and ground. This is again allowed to be evaporated to form tiny couscous like grains. This is a lengthy process and certain large instruments are used for pounding and evaporation etc. I picked up some from the local market here. So, it was quite easy. Attieke is high in carbohydrates, but very low in proteins and fat, hence easy to digest. This can be served along with grilled chicken, fried fish, meat, vegetables etc. I have served it along with south Indian style spicy fish curry. Here goes the recipe...

Ingredients:
Attieke - 1cup
Water - 1 cup
Butter - 1tbsp
Salt for taste

Recipe for the Spicy fish curry

Method:
In a microwave safe bowl boil 1 cup water. Add attieke, 1 tbsp butter, salt for taste (I just used a pinch), in that boiling water, stir well. Cook for 7 min on high. Mix well with a fork to so that there are no lumps of grains formed. Serve hot with spicy fish curry.

Note:
The water may be increased to 1 and 1/2 cup if required.