Afican & Intercontinental Delicacies

African Salad (Abacha & Ugba)

Abacha is an Eastern Nigeria dish and is prepared with dried shredded cassava. This exotic delicacy is easy to prepare and is relished as meal or a snack. I concur to the fact that it can be eaten as a snack. Why? ‘cos back at secondary during those hunger-strike seasons when your provisions were no were to be found owing to the fact that you had devoured them and you had nothing left sometimes not even the almighty garrium sulphate (Garri/ Cassava), you had to improvise….. (wink). That was the first time I heard of abacha……back then we soaked it and I think mixed it with palm oil. I can’t remember exactly but I remember we ate it happily and contended (guess we had no other option)…. but it was an experience. Like Paul said, I know how to abound whether with much or with little. That’s one thing you learn when you attend a boarding school. Well read on and find out how to make abacha not as a snack but as a meal ….smiles.

Ingredients

• 1 cup, Palm Oil
• 6 Garden Eggs, diced
• 400g Abacha (dried shredded cassava)
• Stockfish- 10 pieces, spiced and cooked
• 10 pieces of Kpomo/ Kanda(cow skin), spiced and cooked
• 100g Ugba, sliced
• 1tbsp Garden Egg leaves, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp Potash
• 1 Seasoning cube
• Chilli Pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp ground Crayfish
• Boiling water
• Salt to taste

Directions

• Season and cook the stockfish and kpomo
• Soak the abacha in cold water for about 10minutes
• Drain out the cold water, pour boiling water over it and quickly drain out the water
• Let it sit in a colander for about 5minutes
• Dissolve the potash in water and then stir with the palm oil in a pot
• Place on heat and add the pepper, crayfish and seasoning
• Stir properly then add the ugba, chopped garden eggs, the stockfish and kpomo
• Add the add abacha and mix properly allowing all the ingredients to blend
• Garnish with chopped garden egg leaves
• Add salt to taste

Other seasoning you can add to the Abacha

• 1 teaspoon Ogiri / Iru (traditional Nigerian seasoning)

Other meat and vegetables for the Abacha

• 3 Fresh Utazi leaves (Gongronema latifolium)
• Garden Eggs | As much as you can eat
• Garden Egg leaves | 1 medium bunch
• 1 medium Onion (for serving) 

 Yspot!