Africa Gambia : Superkanja or Okra Stew

Gambian village

[Photo credit:Javier D.]

Superkanja, Supa Kanja or Kanjadaa is a soupy stew made with okra and it was NOT my kids favourite dish when we lived in The Gambia. I think it is because of the okra which they said gives it a sort of slimyness. Having said that, a lot of people really like it – especially when it is made with fresh okra and not too much palm oil.

Kanja is the Mandinka word for okra and supa apparently comes from the Portuguese, which is likely to come via Guinea Bissau which borders onto The Gambia. Daa is the Mandinka word for mouth. That gives you an idea of the history of this dish.

I’ve found a number of recipes online for it. Here are just a few:

• Gambian Okra Stew – ‘Superkanja’
• Recipe: Superkanja (this is the Peace Corps one)
• Superkanja (Recipes Wiki)

In our village in The Gambia Superkanja which they called Kanjadaa was made without meat and they added local spinach and onions to the okra. We had it on top of millet. Most of the recipes I’ve seen are the  ’posh’ town version than the village version.  The general idea is to use the same amount of meat (beef and/or fish meat) as okra cooked in palm oil (or in some recipes boiled in water) plus a lot of onions and of  course the ubiquitous ‘MAGGI’ cubes (beef stock cubes) with added hot peppers and seasoning to taste.  The meat is cooked first, then the okra and onions added and all of it cooked until ‘goupy’ (or thickened in cooking terms). Some recipes only boil the meat but I always saw it fried first in the palm oil. Once the meat and okra are cooked, water is added and a lot more boiling is done.  The Kanjadaa is said to be done when the palm oil rises to the top. It is then served on top of rice or millet.