Pounded yam is simply boiled white yam that has undergone the process of pounding a mortar, there are other simple way to achieve this recipes, people have been able to synthesis the process and taken away the “stressful pounding”, they have been able to make yam flour that take about ten minutes of stirring over heat to produce pounded yam.
That is just one way to prepare this food even though most people prefer the old traditional way of pounding boiled yam as the taste and the texture as good as the one prepared by pounding. Beside it is very much cheaper if you decide to pound the yam yourself instead of buying packed yam flour.
To prepare pounded yam you would need
Tubers of yam
Pestle and mortar
A cooking pot
A kitchen knife
Water
Start by peeling off the brown outer layer of the yam, slice and wash the white part thoroughly with a lot of clean water. Put the pieces of sliced yam into a cooking pot and start cooking with just water, nothing should be added . Be sure that the sliced yams inside the pot are almost completely submerged in water.
Cook for ten to fifteen minute then check to see if the yams are soft enough for pounding, you can check with a kitchen fork by piercing. Once the yams are soft enough for pounding you are ready for the pounding part. Be sure that the water is not completely dried because it will be useful while pounding the yam.
Sometimes while pounding the yam gets very strong during that you will need to add a little water while pounding, you can use ordinary water but the water left after cooking the yam is most suitable because it will make it to remain warm.
Pick with a fork and transfer into a mortar then go ahead and pound with a pestle, pound until the yam are seedless and can easily be molded, you can add water and pound until you have a smooth soft pounded yam.
You need to know that it is better to use yam that have stayed for at least three months on the surface, we don’t use newly harvested yams for the preparation of pounded yam.
Pounded yam in Nigerian is not eaten alone but served with any of the different Nigerian soups, it is mostly eaten with egusi or bitterleaf soup.
I am yet to find out a way to preserve this food more than 24 hours. So just pound only what you can consume within twelve hours