How to Prepare Ukwa (African Breadfruit Porridge)

African breadfruit is in a food class of its own. I was not sure where to put it but finally settled for beans section because breadfruit seeds are most similar to beans. It is known as Ukwa in Igbo and the scientific name is Treculia africana. Ukwa is such a versatile food with a natural delicious flavour. It can be cooked plain without any ingredient, not even salt and it will taste great especially when prepared with fresh Ukwa. It can be roasted and eaten with coconut or palm kernel. It can also be prepared as a porridge which is what this page is about. Ingredients 700g African Breadfruit 2 medium dry fish 2 small stock cubes 7g edible potash Palm oil (enough to colour) 5-6 fresh bitter leaves Pepper & Salt (to taste) Common additions to Breadfruit Porridge: White Puna yam Corn/Maize, you can also use sweet corn Notes about the ingredients Freshly peeled ukwa or dried ukwa can be used for this recipe. You can use stock fish instead of dry fish or both. By fresh bitter leaves I mean bitter leaves that have NOT been washed and squeezed. Always add enough palm oil to make your Nigerian meals look appetizing. Edible potash acts as food tenderizer. Only a very small quantity should be used. If you are lucky to buy freshly dehusked ukwa seeds from the same tree, you will not need to use the food tenderiser. I do not know any alternative to edible potash. Before you cook the Ukwa If using dry ukwa, soak it overnight in plenty of cold water. If using fresh ukwa, skip this step. The next day, soak, debone and wash the dry fish or stock fish and break into pieces. Wash the ukwa thoroughly in cold water. Stones and sand usually settle at the bottom so watch out for those. Pound the pepper. Rinse the bitter leaves and set aside. Cooking Directions Put the thoroughly washed ukwa in a sizeable pot. I used a pressure pot in the video below because it cooks the ukwa much faster. Pour enough water to cover the ukwa. The level of water should be about 1 inch above the level of the ukwa. Add the edible potash. Add the dry fish or stock fish, cover the pot and cook till well done. The ukwa is done when the seeds melt when pressed. You may need to top up the water while cooking so watch it closely. If using a pressure pot, top ups will not be necessary. Add enough palm oil to the well done ukwa, add pepper, stock cubes and salt to taste. Stir. Cover and cook on medium heat till the palm oil changes colour from red to yellow. This should take about 5 minutes. Stir and add the bitter leaves. Cover and leave to simmer or till the leaves wilt but still green and the ukwa is ready to be served. Cooking Ukwa with a Pressure Pot If you have a pressure pot, ukwa is one of the Nigerian recipes that you should use it for because it cuts the cooking time by a lot. For pressure pots, follow the directions above up till Step 2. Then for step 3, add edible potash, dry fish or stock fish, pepper, salt to taste, stock cubes and palm oil. Cover, pressurize and cook for 30 minutes. I set the pressure on my pot to 1 and my cooker to heat 7 (my burner's heat settings range from 1-9). After 30 minutes with the above settings, the ukwa should be well done. Depressurize the pot under running water and add the bitter leaves. Cover and cook till the vegetables wilt but are still green. There is no need to pressurize the pot during this step. Stir and it's done! Note: Breadfruit Porridge gets thicker as it cools down so ensure you have enough porridge in the meal when done. Serve with chilled palm wine, palmy. Awww!
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African Coconut Rice With Lime Shrimp

This coconut rice was so good. It tasted yummilicious though the rush for the shrimps was more but the pot of rice got cleared even before I could say Jack. The plan was to cook with four coconuts but some were bad so I had to substitute with one sachet of Emma coconut powder. After reading comments on previous coconut rice posts, I decided to try blending my coconuts this time and yes it was a saver. I chopped in tiny pieces, added hot water and blended within seconds. #ByeToCoconutGrating. Just like the pancake rolls, my girls so enjoyed this meal that they requested I preserve a little for their lunch boxes the following day and guess what? Even the one that has said she never wants to see anything rice in her lunchbox cleared everything and said that was because she enjoyed it and that the shrimps tempted her too, Lolz. INGREDIENTS FOR THIS AFRICAN COCONUT RICE: Rice 3 cups Coconuts 2 medium sizes Coconut powder 1 sachet Shrimps 3 small plates Ground crayfish 2 tablespoonfuls Dried catfish 2 medium sized Thyme a pinch of Curry powder a pinch Lime juice from just 1/2 an orange Vegetable oil 1 tablespoon Ginger a tiny piece (grounded) Salt to taste Seasoning cubes 2 Water I served my shrimps as a side but you can mix the shrimps to your pot of rice before turning off the heat. For those who do not like dry cat fish, you can cook with any fish of your choice or chicken, goat meat, corned beef or even beef sef. Enjoy Your Lunch and Dinner!
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Yam and Vegetable Sauce (Ji Abubo)

Ji Abubo is one of the most traditional Igbo delicacies. I look forward to a visit to grandma's place because I am sure to eat either Ji Abubo or Abacha when I get there. Prepare this for the traditional Igbo man in your life and he will fall in love with you all over again! Ji Abubo (Yam & Vegetable Sauce [Video] Ingredients 1kg (2.2 lbs) white puna yam 200g Nigerian pumpkin leaves Palm oil 200g ukpaka (shredded oil bean seeds) Ogiri Igbo (castor bean paste) 1 Habanero/Scotch Bonnet pepper pepper or to taste Salt (to taste) Notes about the ingredients Puna yam is sweet and starchy and is the yam we use for most Nigerian yam recipes. The pumpkin leaves stated above are not halloween pumpkin leaves. They are Nigerian pumpkin leaves: Telfairia occidentalis. If you do not have those, use spinach. That's what I used in the video below with great results. Add palm oil till you get the consistency you like. For the authentic taste palm oil is very important to this recipe, vegetable oil or any other oil cannot be used as alternative. Ogiri Igbo gives the sauce the very traditional taste. If you do not have it, use stock cubes. Before you prepare the Ji Abubo Wash the yam thoroughly with plenty of water and a sponge. Do not peel the yam. Slice into desired shapes and sizes for example the half-moon slices. Rinse the ukpaka and place in a foil bag or plastic bag. My grandma uses leaves to wrap the ukpaka. Wash the vegetables and tie them up with strings. Directions Boil the yam, vegetable and ukpaka Put the yam pieces in a pot and pour water to cover the yams. Place the tied vegetables and wrapped ukpaka on top and cook till the ukpaka and vegetables are soft. Continue cooking the yam if not done. Make the vegetable sauce Pound the habanero pepper in a mortar till smooth. When the ukpaka and pumpkin leaves are soft (from step 2 above), pound them in the same mortar one after the other till they are as smooth as possible. Add palm oil to the blend till you get a consistency you like and mix very well. Add salt and ogiri Igbo to your taste and mix with the pestle till everything is well incorporated. Dish in a serving bowl and set aside. Check the yam Once the yam is well done, decant the water and place the yams in a serving plate or tray. Ji Abubo should be served piping hot to complement the cold vegetable sauce.
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Nigerian Meat Pie

This came about as a result of an experiment in my kitchen. I wanted to jazz up my Nigerian Meat Pie because everyone in my home was getting bored with the conventional meat pie with its half moon shape. Nigerian Meat Pie as a Dessert [Video] This one tastes so good and believe me, the first time I made it, a whole pan was consumed in no time! I only made a few changes to the original Nigerian Meat Pie to get this. I replaced the Irish potatoes with sweet potatoes and added sweet apple. These two add a kind of subtle sweetness to the meat pie. Then I used a flat baking pan to make it look like the western pies. Ingredients I used a baking pan that is 9 inches (23cm) in diameter and 1.5 inches (4 cm) deep. For the dough meat pie baking pan 300g plain flour (All Purpose Flour) 150g margarine 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 pinches salt ¼ cup cold water For the filling ½ of a medium SWEET potato (150g) 1 small carrot (130g) 1 sweet apple 250g minced beef 1 small onion 1 big stock cube 1 teaspoon thyme Salt to taste Water Thickener for the filling A mixture of: 1 tablespoon plain flour ¼ cup cold water Ornamental Ingredient 1 egg Tools you will need to make a meat pie Oven: This will be used for baking the meat pie. Buy it in USA | in UK Dough Roller or good old wine bottle. Buy dough roller in USA | in UK Kitchen scale: Buy it in USA | in UK A table: You will need a flat surface to roll out and cut the dough for the meat pie. Small baking pan Table fork: This will be used to press the edges of the meat pie after the filling has been added. Directions The Meat Pie Filling Wash, peel and dice all the vegetables. Do the same for the apple. Follow the direction for making Nigerian Meat Pie filling. After step 4 from over there, add the diced apple, add the thickener, stir and leave to simmer for about 3 minutes. Set aside to cool down. The dough The dough for this pie is mixed exactly the same way as the dough for the classic Nigerian Meat Pie. Follow the directions over there to mix the dough. Roll, Fill and Close Set your oven to 170°C (335°F) to preheat. Rub margarine on the insides of the baking pan. Break the egg, beat it and set aside. Knead the rested dough for a bit and divide it into 2 parts. One part should be slightly bigger than the other. Roll out the bigger dough to a 5mm thickness making sure that the diameter of the rolled out dough equals the diameter of your baking pan plus two times the depth of the pan and then some excess to allow for sealing the meat pie. Once happy, drape the flat dough on the pan and make it snug the inside corners of the pan. Fill the dough-lined baking pan with the filling. Brush some egg on the dough covering the edge of the pan. Roll out the remaining dough to 5mm thickness and a diameter that is a bit wider than that of the baking pan. Cover the pan with the rolled out dough and use a fork to seal the edges. Feel free to close the edges any how you like. Rub the egg on the dough. This gives the pie a golden brown look when done. Set the pan on a rack in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes or till the top covering is golden brown. Place the pan closer to the bottom heating so that the dough at the bottom of the pan will be well done by the time the top dough is done. Try this and you'll love it!
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Nigerian Shuku Shuku

Nigerian Shuku Shuku is a great Nigerian delicacy that doubles as a dessert and a snack. It is one of the easiest Nigerian recipes on this website. How to make Nigerian Shuku Shuku [Video] If you have ever tasted coconut and bread (chewed together), that's what Shuku Shuku tastes like. It is the perfect way to recycle the chaff that I get when I extract coconut milk. You can also use coconut flakes for this but the Shuku Shuku made with those are lighter. Ingredients for Shuku Shuku I prepare Shuku Shuku in 2 ways. The first one (shown on the right in the image above) requires baking while the second does not. For the baked method you will need: 120g coconut chaff (or coconut flakes) 3 egg yolks 30g icing sugar (powdered sugar) Bread crumbs For the no-bake method you will need: 120g coconut chaff (or coconut flakes) Evaporated milk ( you can use condensed milk too) 30g icing sugar (powdered sugar) Bread crumbs Notes on the ingredients: I prefer coconut chaff for Shuku Shuku because coconut flakes are too light and dry. You only need enough quantity of evaporated milk that will make the coconut chaff stick together. So just keep adding bit by bit till the chaff is sticky enough to make balls, it should not be soaking wet. You can also use condensed milk. I do not use it because it is too sweet for me and it is kind of sticky. Directions Baked Shuku Shuku Put the coconut chaff in a deep bowl and add the egg yolks and the icing (powdered) sugar. Mix very well with a spatula till everything is well incorporated. Use fingertips to make small balls of Shuku Shuku, about the size of table tennis balls. Gently roll each ball on some bread crumbs till it is completely covered with bread crumbs. Place in the oven tray and bake in a preheated oven at 170°C (335°F) for 15-20 minutes. Or till you see them turn a slight yellow all over. That's it! No-bake Shuku Shuku Put the coconut chaff in a deep bowl and add the icing (powdered) sugar. Add the evaporated milk (or condensed milk) bit by bit and mix with a fork at the same time. Do this till you have enough quantity of milk in the coconut chaff to enable you make shuku shuku balls with the chaff. The mix should not be soaking wet with the milk. :) Mix very well with the fork till everything is well incorporated. Use your finger tips to make small balls of Shuku Shuku, about the size of table tennis balls. Gently roll them on some bread crumbs till they are completely covered. They are ready to eat!
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Afang Soup

The Nigerian Afang Soup, like the Edikang Ikong soup, is native to the Efiks, people of Akwa Ibom and Cross River states of Nigeria but enjoyed by all Nigerians. It is also very nutritious as the soup consists mainly of vegetables. Afang Soup is prepared with a generous quantity of Water leaves and the wild herbal Okazi leaves. How to Cook Afang Soup [Video] The Nigerian Afang Soup should not be confused with the Okazi Soup native to the people of Imo and Abia States of Nigeria. While Afang soup is prepared with basically vegetables, Okazi Soup is simply the Nigerian Egusi Soup cooked with thinly sliced Okazi leaves. Ingredients for Afang Soup 400g sliced Okazi/Afang leaves | about 4 handfuls 250g Water leaves 20 - 25 cl Palm oil (about 1 drinking glass) Beef, Kanda and Dry fish 2 tablespoons Crayfish Pepper, Salt and Crayfish - to taste 2 Knorr cubes Notes about the ingredients Great alternative to water leaves is Lamb's Lettuce, known as Canonigos in Spanish. Yes, you need that much palm oil. :) Before you cook the Nigerian Afang Soup Wash, drain and slice the water leaves into tiny pieces. Grind or pound the sliced Okazi leaves. In Nigerian markets, the sellers of these sliced Okazi leaves have a machine for grinding it. You can also grind it with your blender with a small quantity of water. Take a look at the ground Okazi leaves. Grind your pepper and crayfish and cut the onions into tiny pieces. Cooking Directions Boil the beef and Kanda with the diced onions and stock cubes in a very small quantity of water. When done, add the dry fish and cook for about 5 more minutes. Now add the palm oil, crayfish and pepper. Once it starts boiling, add the afang (okazi) leaves, water leaves and periwinkle. When the okazi leaves have softened and the water has dried up a bit, add salt to taste and leave to simmer for about 5 minutes. The Afang soup is ready! Serve with Garri (Eba), Semolina, Amala or Pounded Yam.
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