The tomato base wasn't fried long enough. Keep frying until the oil separates and the mixture darkens.

Can I make this without tomato paste?

Yes — fresh tomato and pepper is enough, but paste deepens the red colour.

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Nigerian Beef Stew

Name: Nigerian Beef Stew
Total time: 80 min
Yield: 5 servings
Cuisine: Nigerian
Ingredients: 1kg beef, cut into chunks; 500g fresh tomatoes; 3–4 red bell peppers (tatashe); 2–3 scotch bonnet peppers (ata rodo); 2 large onions; 1 cup vegetable oil; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 2 seasoning cubes; 1 tsp thyme; 1 tsp curry powder; 2 bay leaves; Salt to taste

The rich, deep red tomato and pepper stew that sits at the base of nearly every Nigerian jollof, fried rice and rice-and-stew plate.

1 hr 20 min Serves 5Stew

Nigerian Beef Stew — Nigerian stew recipe

Nigerian Beef Stew is the mother stew of the Nigerian kitchen — slow-cooked, well seasoned, and built on a proper fresh tomato and pepper base rather than tomato paste alone. Once you nail this, you can build jollof, rice and stew, and dozens of everyday meals from it.