EGUSI SOUP IN OLIVE OIL
INGREDIENTS
Meat – according to your budget or if you prefer Chicken or Turkey
1 cup of shelled Egusi seeds
1 medium sized dry fish.
1 medium sized smoked fish (catfish or any suitable variety)
1 medium sized stockfish
1 large onion
6 Red Peppers (chili) – blended.
3 Large red pepper – blended
1 cup of Crayfish – blended
2 soup spoonful of Goya brand olive oil.
2 Maggi
Salt
1 bunch of Ugu
Bitterleaf (washed and bitterness completely squeezed out).
PREPARATION
All kitchen disinfection, cleansing and preparation of ingredients before cooking is duly observed. Roast Egusi seeds on a tray in an oven for about 20 mins (this helps to reduce the oily effect) and allow to cool and blend with the Rhodo, tatashe and a little bit of onion.
Heat the olive oil in a clean pot and add a cube of magi and a pinch of salt, stir to mix up and add the blended pepper mixture. Fry for a while and set aside.
In another clean pot put the washed meat, stock fish, magi and salt and a little bit of the onion, boil until meat is a little tender.
Heat up the fried pepper again, add Egusi and continue frying for about 3 mins to mix and blend.
Add the cleaned smoked fish and crayfish and cook for about 3 mins, then add the meat stock and stir thoroughly to blend (some people would remove the meat from the meat stock and add it to the soup when it is almost ready but I prefer to cook everything together so I cook only for a few mins or when a little tender and use the meat and stock during the rest of my preparation together). Add the washed bitterleaf and cook for a few mins.
Add the shredded ugu leaves and simmer for about 1 min and remove from heat. Can be served with low calorie tuber dish like amala and pounded yam.
Nigerian tuber food dishes are made by boiling the tuber food variety – Yam, Cassava, Cocoyam, Plantain or rice in water for a specific period of time and then pounding in a wooden mortar and pounded with a wooden pestle. Let me show you how to make this tuber dishes of ours that stand out everywhere. It can be eaten with a variety of soups and stews.
Now let’s make our tuber dish to go with the soup, I will prepare each listed above because they are easy and fast to prepare.
EBA (GARRI)
INGREDIENTS
Water
Cassava flour (sold as garri in the market)
PREPARATION
Depending on how many people you are making the dish for, pour a measure of water that should be enough for the number of people ( you have to be sure or if not when making the Eba don’t use up all the water if you feel its too much) into a kettle and heat up to boiling point.
Take a large bowl or container that can take the quantity of Eba you are making and pour in the measured water into the bowl.
Sprinkle the cassava flour gently into the bowl until the mixture before you is thick, take a spatula or a large wooden spoon (if you don’t have a spatula) and turn the mixture until well blended and fluffy, (you would have to turn it a number of times to get the right consistency) and “Voila” the dish is ready to go with the Egusi soup.
FUFU (AKPU – IGBO)
INGREDIENTS
Water
Cassava mixture (sold in the market as akpu) normally white and wet
Mortar
Pestle
PREPARATION 1
Fill a sauce pan with water midway and heat to boiling point
Pour the cassava mixture into the mortar and mix with water until a smooth paste is formed; break up into miniature ball using the hands to form the balls.
Drop each ball gently into the boiling water and cook for 5 mins.
Remove each ball gently from the pot into the mortar and pound using the pestle until a thick paste forms, mold into balls again and bring the pot to boil again.
Drop each ball gently into the boiling water and cook for 5 mins.
Remove from the pot and set pot aside, pound again until you get a thick paste that looks well cooked and it’s ready for eating.
PREPARATION 2
Fill a sauce pan with water and add the cassava mixture into it until you get a smooth paste, make sure that you are not using a lot of water instead start with a little at a time till you get the smooth paste.
Heat the mixture over medium heat and continue stirring periodically as the mixture thickens.
It would take a while about 25 – 30 mins for the mixture to become thoroughly cooked and throughout this period, you have to keep stirring or the mixture forms thick curds that are unpleasant and makes the final food unpalatable. You may have to bring down the pot at this stage and hold it firmly between the soles of your feet for a firm grip and stir vigorously or you may solicit the help of another to hold the pot while you stir.
The mixture will become very thick and hard as you continue stirring keep on stirring until a thick lump of consistent and thick mass is before you, then its ready.
You can find the already prepared ones in the market available for instant eating but personally, if I don’t know the seller and can’t vouch for the overall hygiene in the course of the preparation then I don’t buy. This is because most of those being sold in the market have an unpleasant smell and taste and you might be repelled but if you can manage it then its OK but then some of the are also very good and clean and moreover, it saves you a lot of time.
POUNDED YAM
INGREDIENTS
Tuber of yam
Mortar
Pestle
PREPARATION
Take the tuber of yam and cut up into small pieces, so that it would soften on time.
Cook until soft and remove from heat.
Gently one by one remove from the pot and put into the mortar with the exception of the head of the yam because it would form irritating balls in the smooth overall dough to be produced.
Pound gently and as if forms the dough or a lumpy mass that thickens as you continue to pound maintaining consistency, add a little hot water to form even dough after a while when you observe that the lump is thick and hard and we want the dish to be – smooth and consistent. Once the lump is soften and less thick, it’s ready for serving/eating.
SEMOLINA/SEMOVITA
INGREDIENTS
Semolina/semovita
Water
Spatula
PREPARATION
Pour water into a pot and place over heat and sift Semolina/Semovita to remove coarse particles.
Allow to boil and gently pour in the Semolina/Semovita into the pot using a small cup and at the same time turn the mixture as it thickens until no more Semolina/Semovita is left over low heat.
Continue stirring until the mixture to become thoroughly cooked and throughout this period, you have to keep stirring or the mixture forms thick curds that are unpleasant and makes the final food unpalatable. You may have to bring down the pot at this stage and hold it firmly between the soles of your feet for a firm grip and stir vigorously or you may solicit the help of another to hold the pot while you stir.
The mixture will become very thick and hard as you continue stirring keep on stirring until a thick lump of consistent and thick mass is before you, then its ready.
I will stop here from now until we see again. I hope you learned something today from my Nigerian recipes.