I am a native of Urhobo land,precisely from Delta state, and our major foods include the ogwo soup and the banga soup. Both can be eaten with any swallow but I prefer starch.
I remember when I gained admission into the University of Benin, my dad had to ask me if I could make ogwo soup because it turns out that if I'm to get married as an urhobo lady, I'll have to prepare the soup for my husband. I told him I could and he said I was lucky because I wouldn't have gone to school without learning how to make the soup.
I don't mean to brag, but I prepare both dishes very well, especially with banga soup being my favourite. Banga soup is the native name, it's called palm kernel soup in English and it's highly nutritious.
Everyone knows how much I love banga, so at the office, I was asked to make starch and banga soup for our get-together. I did it with so much joy, packaged it and also shared it with joy.
Ingredients needed;
800g palm-nuts (two derica of palm kernel) or the already processed palm kernel juice.
Orunbebe stick (Banga stick)
Beef stock
Onions
Banga spices
3 tablespoons grounded crayfish
4 Seasoning Maggi
Pepper preferably the grounded pepper
Salt to taste
Dried fish/ assorted beef/ ponmo (cow skin)
Dried bitter leaf
Belepete(I don't know what it's called in English)
Water
Starch
Palm oil
Instructions for the banga soup
Boil the palm nuts with water in a pot for about 30 minutes. This is to soften the nuts.
Season your beef and pomo with maggi, onions, ginger and garlic, and cook till it's edible. Also preserve the stock.
Once the palm nuts get softened, you can pound it in a mortar for you to be able to get the juice out. Add water and sieve the juice out. Do this for about three to four times to get a reasonable quantity of juice.
Once the juice is gotten, cook it for about 5 minutes.
Then add the banga spice, banga stock, pepper, onions, 2 Seasoning cubes, salt(always taste to avoid over-salting the soup), belepete, dried bitter leaf and crayfish, and let it boil for about 10 minutes.
Add the stock,beef and dried fish and stir. Let it boil for about 15 more minutes so it can all mix well together.
Viola,the soup is ready 😋 🙌 🤪.
For the starch,it's quite easy.
Mix the starch with water in a bowl.
Turn it into a pot and place it on the cooker.
Add a little bit of palm oil.
Stir for a while till it thickens and there's a uniformity of color.
Serve with the already made banga soup.
I can eat this anywhere, anytime and any day. I hope you all get to try it and have a taste of this wonderful meal.
Thanks for reading ❤.