Every Nigerian Garri we eat carries the story of sweat, smoke, and survival! As I've already given a hint in This post, I explained how it took us an hour walk to go harvest the cassava, took hours to pull them out the ground and heavy loads on hour head for another hour to get back to where we start the processing!
Ok so this post will be a continuation to that one. Here I'll share the remaining process, how everything is done to get the garri, and how all the work it took produced a good result.
If you have food easy, you'll get to appreciate what you have after reading this post!
In this post, I'll share with you all you need to know about Garri (Cassava flakes) and how it is processed.
The Cassava
It all starts from harvesting the cassava, as I already mentioned in the former post.
So let's talk a bit about where the Garri comes from, The Cassava!
Garri is gotten from the root crop called Cassava. Cassava grows easily in most parts of Nigeria. Below are some facts about cassava and why cassava farming and Garri production is agriculturally important:
Cassava is a low maintenance crop, which means it can grow in poor soils and survive droughts.
Cassava can be harvested year round which makes it a steady source of income for farmers and for sellers
Cassava farming and Garri processing is an economic booster as it involves local labor, especially for women and even children
Garri Processing
So below is what is done for Garri to be ready!
Peeling and Washing: So the first step we take after the harvest is to sit down get knives and peel the cassava to remove the brown outer skin and the inner thick layer, leaving the white part.
While some of us are peeling, one or two people are one side washing them some dirts don't stick to the cassava
It took us several hours to be done with peeling and washing everything
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Grating: Next step after washing them is to grate them into a mash. Thankfully we have our own personal engine so we just put it on and start grating them
Here we have to be supplying the engine with cassava to grate
After grating and transferring them into basins, we move to the next part.
**Mixing with palm oil (optional): To make colored Garri we mix the grated cassava with red oil(palm oil), but if you want white garri you can skip this part.
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The grated cassava is packed into sacks and pressed to remove water as much as possible . Here we use the presses or we use woods to do it manually. Just press the woods against the mash and leave it there for one or two days depending on the quantity at least it would have dried properly.
Sieving: The pressed and dried cassava mash is sieved to separate the finer particles, which will become Garri and the chaff is thrown out or upcycled.
Roasting/Frying: Finally, the sieved fine particles is fried in a large shallow pan over fire.
This is the step where Garri gets its dry, crispy texture, and it’s a skill that requires patience and constant stirring over the fire and all the heat.
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There's a special skill required to fry large quantities, you have to make sure the fire is in the right amount, the woods are a good one and you're stirring just right. Hmmm even I am still mastering this skill.
After frying all the Garri from the cassava we harvested in one day, we were able to get 350kg amount of Garri for sale. And we do this amount every week.
After all that we finally take it to the market to sell, after taking out the ones we'd eat at home.
From pulling the cassava from the ground to the fireside where it is roasted, Garri carries the legacy of survival and tradition. Yes, tradition, for example in the village once every week is for harvesting cassava and it is taken seriously by everyone.
If you eat Garri easily today, know that it passed through hours, sometimes days—of sweat and care!
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Why Nigerians Love Garri – And why you should too
Beyond the fact that it is easy to make Garri, it also has lots of benefits:
- Garri is High in Carbs, and this makes it a great source of energy for everyone. Each time we're done with farming, mom will always tell us to soak some garri and drink and it always helps to renew our energy!
- Even though prices has been going up here and there, Garri still remains one of the most affordable staples in the market
Garri is also versatile. Here we eat it cold, as soaked garri or hot, as eba, and most people use it to create other recipes like Garri cake or cookies.
When stored properly, Garri can lasts months without getting spoilt which makes it perfect for bulk purchases or food storage
Garri helps to generate jobs, support families and much more. You can call it an economic engine.
So do you think processing garri is a lot of work? For me, it's not difficult to process a few cassavas, but when it involves a huge amount of cassava and a long distance to and fro that's when it becomes more challenging, but teamwork always makes it more fun and helps to get the work done faster.
Im so happy that we have the opportunity the opportunity to get some valuables from the earth and the honor to process it ourselves and to have enough to eat!
I thank you all for reading through, and I hope I covered enough information in this post. See you next time!
