Moroccan Black-Eyed Peas-Ful Gnaoua Recipe

The standard moroccan treatment for dried legumes such as lentils and white beans is applied to the black-eyed pea recipe here. After soaking, the beans are stewed with tomatoes, onions, garlic, and moroccan spices. The resulting dish is saucy, zesty, and surprisingly delicious to even those who don't normally enjoy beans. In morocco, black-eyed peas or cowpeas are called ful gnaoua (gnawa), a name which literally translates to "Guinea bean. " Remember to allow time for soaking the dried black-eyed peas in cold water overnight. Or, you can give them a quick soak by dropping them in boiling water for a minute or two, then soaking off the heat for 1 hour. Once soaked, the stewed beans are quite easy to prepare and can be offered as a side or vegetarian main dish. Although you can use a spoon, in morocco it's also quite normal to eat beans by hand, using moroccan bread instead of a utensil to scoop up the beans and sop up every last bit of the flavorful sauce. Cooking time is for a pressure cooker. Allow double this time if preparing the beans in a conventional pot.