Kickin' Kontomire stew

I bought most of the ingredients for this dish from a cute, little Ghanaian run shop in Brixton market - all hip life music, 4 for a pound plantains and nonchalant service. My intial inquiry for cloves with the shop assistant went like this:
Me- Erhem, do you stock cloves? (I inquired in the way you do when you're from Kingston upon thames)
Man (chewing a tooth pick, points to the shop next door selling clothes. I follow his direction.
Me - Oh, no, not clothes - cloves
Man - (looking blank)
Me - .....for kelewele?
Man - What? (still blank)
Me - No worries, I'll jog along (man looks at me increduously like i'm speaking Hebrew)....oh dear!

Pronounced kon-tome-ray, this stew originates from the Ashanti region of Ghana and is packed full of nutrients ideal to ward off those last remaining winter niggles. Add an extra sctoch bonnet for added chili punch.

Ingredients - serves 2-3

1 large bunch of Coco yam leaves or Spinach leaves
2 tbsp of grounded egusi (melon seeds)
150 ml palm oil
 - the above can be obtained from any well stocked African market,
if in doubt, head for Brixton
3 cloves garlic
I medium sized onion
1 scotch bonnet pepper
3 tomatoes
150g Smoked Mackerel
1/2 tsp salt
50ml water

Right, start this dish by chopping up your onions and then set aside - I find something so familiar and comforting in the way that virtually all Ghanaian stews start off like this. Chop up the tomatoes, garlic  and scotch bonnet into rough pieces and add to a blender and puree. Wash the spinach or coco yam leaves thoroughly, cut stems off and place in a pan half filled with water and boil, once boiled remove immediately and leave to drain in a sieve. Next, take the onions and dry fry for a minute or two until beginning to soften, add palm oil and the salt and resume cooking for 3-5 minutes and then add tomato mix and the 50 ml water to the pan, leave to cook until the liquid starts to reduce. Any excess palm oil may rise to the surface, which you can always spoon out later. Add the ground egusi and gently mix; agusi thickens the sauce and adds a distinct nutty taste to the dish. Take a pestle and mortar and grind the spinach leaves into a pulpy consistency, draining any excess water and add to the stew. Flake off large pieces of smoked fish and add to the stew and gently mix, cover and cook for 10 mins on a medium heat. Serve immediately with fluffy white rice. So, is this stew Kickin'? You know what to do, get commenting!