Palm nuts, the fruit of the African oil palm, are available only in the tropics. The Palm Butter (or Nyembwe sauce) is made by boiling the fruit and discarding the skin and nut kernels.
approximately 100 fresh, ripe, palm nuts
Bring two or three cups
of water to a boil in a saucepan. Place the palm nuts in the
boiling water (they do not need to be covered by the water).
Cover and cook the palm nuts for a few minutes, until the skins
begin to come off.
Drain the water from the pan. Use a potato masher (or a mortar
and pestle) to crush the palm nuts into a pulp.
Combine the palm nut pulp with one to two quarts (approximately
two liters) of cold water. Stir. Squeeze the palm nuts with your
hands to remove all the fruit and oil from the palm nuts.
Press the pulp through a strainer into the saucepan (rinse it
first). Discard the nut skins and kernels that remain in the
strainer. You might want to strain it twice, to remove all the
nut kernels and bits of skin, and to make sure all the oil and
fruit end up in the saucepan. Heat the pulp to a low boil, stir
often, and cook until the sauce is thickened (maybe an
hour). Once the sauce is heated, chicken and other ingredients
can be added and cooked in the thickening sauce to make Poulet
Nyembwe
area : Central Africa
course : sauce
source : Patty McDuffy [Intl_Recipe_Exchange]