ABACHA/AFRICAN SALAD RECIPES- HOW TO PREPARE

Abacha is a native food of the Igbos in the eastern part of Nigeria. The major ingredients of this yummy recipe is abacha( a crisply grated dried cassava) and ugba or ukpakala (oil bean seeds). One of the things I love about abacha salad is its high nutritional values. Think of a balanced diet, think of abacha salad. Our business today is how to prepare this delicious meal. Here we go…!

 

INGREDIENTS:

Abacha (grated cassava)

Ugba(oil bean seeds)

crayfish

garden egg fruit or leave

Fresh pepper, onion and palm oil

5 pinches of ground edible potash( kaun or akanwu)

Kpomo(cooked or roasted cow hide)

Utazi leave(a bitter dark green vegetable)

Salt and seasoning

STEP 1: Soak the abacha for about 10-15 minutes, wash it thoroughly and make sure no sand is left. How to wash- put the abacha into a bigger bowl, pour in enough water to to cover the abacha and get almost to the brim of the bowl. Using your right hand, mix up the abacha in a washing manner, then slightly scoop a handful of the abacha without touching the dregs of the bowl as you do this. Hold the scooped abacha for a few seconds allowing it to drain off(your hand serves as a sieve). Then put the handful of abacha into an empty bowl. Repeat this until you have scooped all the abacha. Pour the dregs down the drain. Wash this way for 2-3 times more. Set aside the washed abacha.

STEP 2: Wash the crayfish as you did to the abacha above. NB: do not soak the crayfish, rather start washing following the above step 1 as soon as you add water to it. This is to avoid washing off its nutrients and taste. Repeat 2-3 times, then set it aside. Wash the pkomo(scrape the inner part off with the knife), garden egg leave and utazi thoroughly and set them aside.

STEP 3: Chop the fresh peeper, garden egg fruit and onion into nice shapes, set them aside. Slice the kpomo, shred the garden egg leave and utazi and set them aside. Unwrap the ugba into a saucer and set it aside. To get the best taste, the ugba should be 50% fermented. Fermented ugba is soft and tasty, otherwise, it is harder and slightly bitter. NB: do not wash the ugba, this will lose its nutrients and taste. Now, the preliminary stage is complete.

STEP 4: This is optional- if you do not like cold food like myself, pour the abacha into a pot, add a little water, add the pkomo, season and add salt to taste. Place it on the cooker and let it cook for 5-7 minutes. The idea is to have a hot/warm yummy African salad and to slightly cook the ingredients added especially the pkomo and seasoning.

STEP 5: We are going to make what is called the ‘ngo’ using the potash(potash is not 100% good for the health, so use sparingly). Add about 5 pinches of potash into an empty pot(you can add more, depending on the quantity of the abacha), add a soup spoon of water, stir continuously with either a wooden spatula or a pestle. Add palm oil and continue stirring to get a thick paste. That is the ngo- the secret of African salad.

STEP 6: Add the following into the ngo- the abacha, ugba, crayfish, garden egg leave, utazi, part of the pepper, onion and garden egg fruit. Mix them up well till they are well blended. Add salt to taste. Serve yourself and garnish it with the remaining pepper, onion and garden egg fruit. Hmm… yummy!   

 

Questions, suggestions and contributions are highly welcome.

You would also like to read JaynnoraStaples and JayFashion.