Egusi and Pounded Yams

I know in all my blogs, I have been talking about all the Ghanaian foods I have eaten. My purpose for writing about these foods is because I enjoy eating them and I will like others from different countries to try them as well. I have not only tried Ghanaian foods, but I have also tried Liberian, Togolese, Mexican, Jamaican, Benin, Nigerian, and American foods as well. I like all the different tastes and styles of foods I have tried so far. But there is one more dish that I have been craving for. It is a Nigerian dish called Egusi soup and pounded yams. I have a Nigerian friend who promised to prepare it for me but unfortunately, she couldn't. We both had to prepare to leave for college so we never had the chance to spend time together. And we never had the chance to say goodbye. 

Alright, back to Egusi and pounded yams. This dish is so popular in Nigeria that other countries in Africa even know about it. Most Nigerian movies have a character eating this dish. Everyone should know what pounded yams looks like. It is just cooked yams that are pounded and shaped into a ball. So I will not say much about it.

Egusi, on the other hand can also be called Pumpkin seed. It is made thick when the pumpkin seed is grounded. This soup is not only eaten with pounded yams, it is also eaten with fufu. Fufu is a starchy dish made from pounding cassava or plantains. Pounded yams is just preferred to be eaten with Egusi soup. Every time I watch Nigerian movies and I see someone eating this dish, I could always picture myself being that person. I have heard from so many people about how delicious the meal is. 

                                        

The recipe in making this dish is very simple. This dish does not take long to cook at all. The most used and well known recipe is listed below: 

Ingredients

1 cup of grounded pumpkin seeds

Beef or chicken

1 cup palm oil

Tomatoes

Onions

Crushed peppers 

Tomato sauce

Tomato pastes

Water 

Spinach 

These are the special ingredients used to make the best Egusi soup. The reason why I added beef and chicken to the ingredients is because, most countries in Africa have a belief that a soup or stew is never complete without meat. I hope anybody who has never tried Egusi soup and Pounded yams should not hesitate to try it .