Ceebu diaga is a dish from
Senegal, West Africa. I NEVER ate this as a Peace Corps Volunteer and it was only the last week of my nearly 3 years there that I tasted this. (Yes, I felt like the entire population was holding out on me). In fact, it was a going away party that I was served this delight. It is by far the most labor intensive of all of the Senegalese dishes I have attempted but it is worth the effort.
***Note: This post isn't meant to be a recipe, per se. I don't measure anything and all amounts given are approximations. There is no ONE recipe for this anyway. Just as your grandma's chicken soup probably varies from my grandma's version. Do feel free to ask for more detail or any questions.
The national dish of Senegal is ceebu jen (rice and fish). Ceebu diaga is an in your face, hoidy-toidy version. It starts with the same fried fish served on a bed of red (in this case) rice with various vegetables. It is then 'smothered' with a red sauce (the 'diaga') that includes shrimp and meatballs made from fish.
Step 1: Making the parsley paste,called 'roff' in Wolof (a language of Senegal):
I combined one fresh bunch of parsley, 1/2 a med. onion, 1 habanero (or scotch bonnet) pepper, 4-5 cloves garlic, 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, 1/2 tsp. salt and one crushed
cube of Jumbo bullion. This one is easy...I just tossed it in a food processor until it was a paste.
As tempting as it is to scrape the food processor clean, I purposefully leave a 'bit' (probably a tablespoon or so) in there in preparation of the next step.
Step 2: Making the fish meatballs:
In the food processor (that still contains the parsley left overs), I added 1 pound boneless halibut filets, juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 egg, 1 crushed jumbo bullion cube, about 1/2 tsp each of fresh ground pepper & salt, 1/3 cup or so of bread crumbs and 3-4 cloves of garlic. I processed it til it had a consistency that a hamburger mix would have when making regular meatballs, although the texture is much 'softer'.
I put just enough vegetable oil on a plate to help with sticking and rolled the fish mixture into balls:
In a heavy duty pot, I heated vegetable oil (enough to cover the bottom about 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep). I've learned the oil needs to be HOT. The idea is to get a nice crisped up coating on the fish balls and not to let them soak in the oil. They don't have to be cooked all the way through since they'll be simmered later in the diaga sauce.
Step 3: Making the diaga sauce:
After draining out all but a tablespoon or so of the oil (reserved for later), I added 1 medium diced onion, 4-5 minced garlic cloves and sauteed until clear. Then I added a 12 oz can on tomato paste and stirred that into the mix. Then I added 1/2 tsp or so each of crushed red pepper and freshly ground black pepper and 1/4 tsp. or so of salt, 2 crushed Jumbo cubes and 3 cups of water. After that, the pot gets covered and simmers a good 2-3 hours. At that point, I added a small bag of frozen peas & carrots, the cooked fish balls and simmer for another 30 minutes before I added 1 lb. of fresh shrimp. The entire thing gets to continue to simmer for another hour or so. At that point, I pulled it off the heat and set the covered pot aside.
Step 4: Preparing the fish
There are many kinds of fish that can be used for this part. Often a whole fish (such as striped bass, tilapia or red snapper) can be used. Sometimes, large steaks of a good solid fish are used. In this case, I used 2-3 inch thick grouper steaks. Grouper (called thioff, or 'choff', in Wolof) is part of the sea bass family and is a nice, mild white fish. The parsley paste is used as a spicy flavoring for the fish. When using a whole fish, it is packed into the inside cavity of the fish. in the case of fish steaks like I used, A slit is cut with a knife in the center of the steak and the parsley paste gets stuffed inside. Neatness doesn't matter as the paste flavors the fish. A lot of the parsley paste is left over, so I set it aside for the rice later.
In HOT oil (I used the little bit I had left after frying the fish balls and added enough to cover the bottom of the pan about 1/2 inch deep. Once I got a nice seared crust on each fish steak, I pulled them out and set them on a baking sheet and put them in a 350 degree oven while I prepared the vegetables and rice.
Step 5: Preparing the vegetables (this could actually be done first)
Almost any kind of vegetable can be used. The most common are carrot, cabbage, eggplant and yucca root (I've found it to be seasonal and wasn't available for me this time. When I was first served this dish, the cook also used cauliflower (the one and only time I saw t served there). In this case I used 4 carrots (peeled and cut in half), 1/4 of a small cabbage (I cut the wedge in half and then inserted a toothpick into each piece to hold it together while it simmers) and a 1/2 of a large eggplant (I cut into 6 lg chunks). Once the vegetables are peeled and cut, I set them aside to prepare the rice.
Step 6: Preparing the rice
In the same heavy cooking pot that I fried the fish steaks (cast iron is great, by the way), I added a medium diced onion, 4-5 garlic cloves and simmered until they are clear. I added a 12 oz. can of tomato past and stirred over med-high heat. I then added a bay leaf, 2-3 tablespoons of the leftover parsley paste, 1/2 tsp each of salt & fresh ground pepper and 2 crushed Jumbo bullion cubes. At that point, I added about (I'm really guessing) 8 cups of water. The entire thing simmered for about an hour then I dropped in the chunks of previously prepared vegetables. The entire thing stays on simmer and as each vegetable chunk is thoroughly cooked, I fished it out (pardon the pun!) and placed it on the same tray the fish steaks are on and put back into the over - lowered to 300 degrees. The liquid is then brought up to a slow boil and I added about (again, a guestimate) 5-6 cups of jasmine rice. It gets stirred, heat is lowered to medium and the lid goes on. It needs stirring every 15 mins. or so and once the rice is thoroughly cooked, I turn off the heat.
Step 7: Assembling the final product
This can be served on individual plates or on a platter, family style (which is the norm in Senegal). On a large platter, I put a bed of rice. A fish steak and vegetables were arranged on top of the rice. The diaga sauce is then drizzled (as light or heavy as you like) over the entire thing.
Step 8: Enjoy!
