Have you heard that "food is life"? Good food is one of the human needs for healthy living. I love eating and not just eating, I love eating good food. When it comes to food, I always take my time to prepare whatever I desire to eat and when. Sometimes, I eat just twice a day, and when I finally get the chance to eat I always make sure I do that to my satisfaction. Some time ago, I did say I had no favorite food as I just ate any food I was able to lay my hand on, but as time went on, I realized I desired more pleasure in taking vegetable sauces with white rice, unlike ground pepper, which is used in making stew.
Image is mine
But when speaking of local foods in my country, Nigeria that could be a lot because Nigeria consists of different tribes and cultures and each of these tribes has its local foods that distinguish them from another. I am from the Yoruba tribe, which is from the western part of Nigeria. We are known for some local foods which I will mention and which I take pleasure in eating because it's always different. I'll be mentioning two of the local dishes that I love eating.
One is Amala with ewedu and any kind of protein be it beef, fish, chicken, or turkey. In preparing this dish, especially the swallow, there are two different kinds of ingredients being used. First is cassava, which is known as (lafun) and the other is yam( known as isu) in my language. The amala is made from elubo which is either elubo isu (yam flour) or elubo lafun (cassava flour). Some take the cassava flour together with the yam flour to make amala, while some take the cassava type alone, and others take the yam type alone, depending on choice.
Cassava flour or yam flour is produced by cutting cassava or yam into smaller portions and then soaking it in water for a few days before sun-drying. After it is well-dried, it is then grinded into a powder then used in making amala.
Preparation of amala
The desired quantity of water is boiled, and a certain amount of yam or cassava flour is added to the water and stirred continuously until it is thickened and smooth. Cover for a few minutes to steam, and Amala is ready to be eaten.
There is something we call draw soup, and it is used in eaten amala with stew; although there are different kinds of soup, I prefer jute leaves you,p, popularly known as ewedu in my tribe and country.
Preparation of jute leaves soup
The leaves are cut from the and rinsed properly, then boiled with locust beans known as Iru in my tribe and potash to soften it then blended. This is eaten with any protein of your choice.
Thanks for your time, and your comments will be appreciated.
