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Nigerian food Okra

Ogbono Soup Stew

Ogbono soup recipe from Nigeria

Ogbono soup is a nigerian stew which consists mainly out of the stew made from Ogbono seeds. Ogbono is the local name for a Mango-like tree which produces fruits similar to the common Mango. The tree is also known as african Mango or Wild Mango. There are many different varieties of the Ogbono soup recipe found in Nigeria, but most of these recipes consist of some type of meat, okra and ground ogbono seeds. It is really popular in the whole of Nigeria and neighbouring countries like Benin and Cameroon. The dried ogbono seeds are sold whole or already ground in many local african stores. If you can not find Ogbono seeds you can try to replace them by pumpkin seeds. You can serve your delicious Ogbono stew with either fufu or rice.

Ingredients for Nigerian Ogbono soup recipe

  • Beef ( 1 pound / 600 Gr)
  • half a cup of dried & ground ogbono seeds
  • Okra (300 gram)
  • Cabbage or Fresh spinach leaves
  • 1 or 2 red chili peppers
  • 1 Onion
  • 6 tomatoes
  • Palm oil
  • Maggi cube
  • Salt & Peper

How to cook Ogbono soup recipe?

  1. Chop your onions, tomatoes, chilis and meat into tiny cubes.
  2. Grind your Ogbono seeds (or pumpkin) if you bought whole seeds and heat a little bit of palm oil in a pan to fry your ground ogbono seeds for around 1 minute and take of the fire.
  3. Heat around a quarter cup of palm oil in another big pot and fry your onions and chilis for 3 minutes. add the meat and tomatoes and fry for another 5 minutes.
  4. Now add water (3 cups) and 1 Maggi Cube to the pot and boil for 45 minutes with closed lit on low fire.
  5. after the meat is tender add the cabbage (cut into pieces) or fresh spinach leaves together with the fried ground ogbono seeds and stire it in well and let it cook for another 20 minutes.
  6. Your delicious Nigerian Ogbono Soup is ready to be served! 🙂
Categories
Nigerian food

Egusi – Nigerian squash seeds soup stew

The seeds of the Egusi plant

Egusi is a certain type of squash/watermelon plant which has fruits

nigerian egusi soup recipe
the egusi fruit

with a quit bitter taste by itself and the flesh of it is not consumed. However the seeds of the Egusi are used in one of the most favourite Nigerian dishes in the world : Egusi soup or stew. Some also use the seeds of any other squash like plants to prepare the Egusi sauce, but to have the real authentic nigerian taste try to find the real Egusi seeds (whole or grounded) which are properly sold in your local African store. Egusi soup, which is more like a stew since is quit thick and most of the time served with beef is one of the most common dishes from the south of Nigeria and is eaten by the whole nigerian nation.

How to make Nigerian Egusi soup?

to make Nigerian Egusi one needs to find its main ingredient: the grounded Egusi seeds in your local ethnic store. Like said before one can also use the seeds of similar fruits like Squash or Melon. In this recipe we have chosen to make egusi soup with beef, but one can also change the beef for chicken or any other meat. Many Nigerians also like to have it with either oxtail or tripe. One can serve the Egusi soup best with pounded yam or fufu.

the ingredients for Egusi from Nigeria

  • (ground) Egusi seeds – 600 Gram
  • Beef (Oxtail or Tripe) – 500 Gram
  • Palm Oil (Red)
  • Pumpkin leaves (or cabage or fresh spinash if not available)
  • maggi cubes
  • Salt & Peper

nigerian egusi stew ingredients how to prepare egusi soup

how to cook the Egusi Soup?

  1. cut the beef in big cubes and boil in 1 liter of water with 3 cubes of Maggi untill it turns very tender.
  2. If you bought whole egusi seeds you should grind them first
  3. Wash the pumpkin leaves (or cabage/spinash)
  4. put 4 tablespoons of Red palm oil in a  different pot on low fire until the oil turns clear
  5. add the ground Egusi to the oil and fry it on low fire (make sure it doesn’t burn by sturing it around allot) until it turns dry
  6. now add the beef + stock (the water where the beef was boilt in) in the pot of Egusi and add more water if it seems too dry.
  7. Cook the beef + Egusi for about 30 minutes on low fire with closed lid
  8. Now add the pumpkin leaves and cook it for a bit and mix it well in.
  9. Serve your delicious Nigerian Egusi Soup with either Fufu or Pounded Yam. Enjoy!!!
Categories
Nigerian food

Asaro (Yam Porridge)

Nigeria’s Asaro: Mashed yam with spices

Asaro is one of the most delicous foods coming from Nigeria. nigeria mashed yam asaro porridge how to cook itAlthough it’s mostly known as a porridge (there for the english name Yam porridge) one could compare it more to mashed potatoes, but then of course it are mashed yams. Instead of just serving plane mashed yam the nigerians add all these delicious species and ingredients to come up with this delicious dish which originally comes from the Yoruba people of Nigeria, but is now eaten all over the country and beyond.

The ingredients for Nigerian Yam Porridge

  • 1 tube of yam
  • 1 large onion
  • 2/3 cloves of garlic
  • 2 large red bell peppers
  • 1 scotch bonnet chilli
  • 2 large tomatoes
  • 1 tsp powdered ginger/ 1.5 tsp grated ginger
  • 1 tsp Curry powder
  • 3 maggi cubes
  • 1 teaspoon all purpose seasoning
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 cups water
  • 0.5 cup palm oil

 How to cook Asaro Yam from Nigeria?

  1. Peel the yam and cut it into small cubes (2cm2) and leave it soaked in cold water
  2. Cut the onions, tomatoes chillis and bell peppers into small pieces

Alternatively blend it with a machine

  1. Add the cubed yam to a sizeable pot and add water to cover the yam. Cook on medium to high heat for 15mins
  2. Add the onions, tomatoes chillis, bell peppers and the remaining ingredients
  3. Stir to combine then re-cover the pot. Continue boiling for 5 minutes then reduce to a simmer
  4. When the yam is soft, partly mash to aid thickening (do not mash all the yam soft, leave some lumpy)
  5. Add salt to taste if needed and it’s ready to be served

 “Yoo gba ibi re” or “enjoy your dinner”

Variations of Asaro with Fish and Plantains

  • Add ground crayfish or smoked fish on step 4
  • Or add diced (1cm2) ripe yellow plantains on step 5 when you reduce the heat to simmer