Welcome to another episode of the Creative Sunday Initiative.
I gave up on making a post for today because I have been down since Friday, my body forcefully made me rest and that's what happens when we don't have adequate rest.
Everyone was tired of the regular meal for dinner so I decided to make a simple snack for dinner. The snack is called Ojojo in the Yoruba language and it is known as Water yam fritters.
I don't know the origin of this snack but it is one of the favorite food of the Ijebu people, I can refer to it as a traditional meal for them and I love it even though I am not from Ijebu.
My mom actually made this snack for us when we were younger because it is very easy and cheap to prepare except if you want to make it really nutritious than usual. I learned it from her and I prepared it several times then without her supervision.
I started my kitchen affairs with frying, it was puff-puff and doughnuts then. I was always eager to share with people so that they can rate my snacks.
Things were very cheap and mom encouraged us to practice especially during holidays. My love for Ojojo is much but I can't have it every time because of its major recipe which is water yam.
It is a seasonal crop and there are times it is not available in the market. It gets scarce and you do be wondering if someone actually bought everything in the market. Water yam is quite expensive these days probably because I stay in a busy community, we use to buy the yam very cheap when we were younger.
Let's go to the kitchen.
Preparing ojojo is quite easy and the only stressful part for me is the grating of the yam.
Recipe.
-Water yam
-Pepper
-Groundnut oil
-Crayfish
-Seasoning
-Onions.
Preparation.
- Peel and wash the water yam thoroughly.
- Grate everything into a wide bowl.
The water yam color can change from white to brown, there is no cause for alarm.
Slice or chop your pepper into small pieces.
- Slice your onions.
- Add all the recipes except the oil and mix them. Ensure the recipe mix very well.
- Heat your oil and regulate the heat to prevent the mixture from getting burnt immediately after you drop it in the oil.
Cut the mixture bit by bit into the hot oil and allow it to fry for at least 4-5 minutes. That time might not be enough so you have to pay attention to the frying.
It is best to put the snack in a basket after removing it from the oil, that will help drain the excess oil from the snacks.
Once it is done frying, your snack is ready for consumption.
The meal is nutritious even though we all know that yams are carbohydrates.
(Please pardon image quality, the frying was done at night)