Koteu’s spinach and tuna with African fufu recipe

Koteu cooked her dish with the help of Sandra, an IRC interpreter of the mental health programme on Lesvos.

Photo: IRC

The IRC in Greece hosted cooking workshops for refugee and local women living on the island of Lesvos. Some of the women who took part talked to us about their experience and shared the recipe of the dish they shared with the group.

I wanted to share it because I grew up eating it. I'm happy to cook knowing many people will eat

Koteu is a refugee from Cameroon who has been supported by the IRC’s mental health centre in Greece for the past year. She chose to share her dish of spinach and tuna with African fufu because she would eat it as a child.   

Here, Koteu shares her spinach and tuna with African fufu recipe. 

Koteu chose to share a dish of spinach and tuna with African fufu.

Photo: IRC

Follow the recipe to learn how to make spinach and tuna with African fufu.

Ingredients 

• 1 kilo of fine semolina
• 500g fresh spinach ( can also use frozen)
• 1kg fresh tuna fish
• 500g shrimps or large prawns
• 2 large onions-chopped
• 1 garlic clove- mashed
• 3 large tomatoes-chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• Olive oil for cooking
• Ground ginger, salt and pepper

Koteu's dish, spinach and tuna with African fufu, ready to eat.

Photo: IRC

Recipe:

• Saute the onions in a generous amount of olive oil until they are translucent and add the garlic.
• Add the tuna in bite-sized pieces, salt and white pepper
• When the tuna has changed colour, add the chopped tomatoes and simmer over low heat.
• Briefly saute the spinach and press it to remove any excess water (if using frozen: just thaw and remove excess water). Keep the water!
• Add the spinach to the tuna along with more olive oil
• Saute the prawns with a bit of garlic, pepper and ground ginger.
• When the tuna mixture starts to stick to the bottom of the pot, add a bit of the water extracted from the spinach and let simmer for a few more minutes.
• Put the tuna and spinach on plates and add the prawns on top.

To make Fufu

• To make Fufu
• Boil half a litre of water and reduce the heat.
• Add the semolina and keep stirring for about 10 minutes until the mix becomes a thick dough.
• Serve the fufu with the tuna and spinach.