Initially I felt this was going to be an easy task until I realized I don't have a favorite meal. Most often I eat whatever my appetite craves for, even the rice and a mixture of beans I ate most often doesn't look like a Nigerian meal, that's because it's not a local diet. One meal I may consider to be slightly my favorite is pounded yam, in Yoruba tribe it's known as Iyan while in my tribe we call it shama Even so, it's seasonal. Anyways, let me tell you more about this meal Iyan or Shama and how it's prepared.
Iyan is known as pounded yam. Our people( the Gbagyi people) farm yam a lot. There comes a season around November -february when pounded yam is made at least 4 times a week in every home in the villages because it's harvest season. The yam is peeled, which is mostly done by the women and a pot with little quantity of water depending on the season the yam was harvested (more water is needed to cook it if it was harvested during the dry season) and is set on the fire. The peeled and sliced yam is put into the water and allowed to boil until it becomes fork-tender, which is then brought down and the water filtered out into another bowl. The yam is pounded in a mortar with a pestle.
One can eat it with any soup of their choice, but I prefer vegetable or draw soup like ogbono, dry okro, or owedu. Among other local meals, I prefer pounded yam the most especially if it's well pounded to be soft, smooth with no lumps, and draws. When it meets these qualities, I don't mind eating it three times in a day until I have a switch in appetite for something different. Even though I don't specifically consider any meal to be my favorite, when asked to make a preference of meal, pounded yam will surely be on the top list. My love for it started in those days when we go hunting in the village, after hunting,the only meal that was prepared to be eating with the bush meats we caught was pounded yam and dry okro, I never missed hunting because I knew in the end I'll have my slightly favorite meal waiting with my desirable soup. It's been a while since I ate it, which is one reason I'm missing home.