The road to a man's heart is truly his stomach... And Nothing excite an hungry man except he hears there's a delicacy being served.
I grew up in a large family, where there's lots of women around me and a few males. And my y usually bubbles with cooking every hour
Sometimes it seems that's what they do for a living, COOKING And this was where I got my cooking ability from
You'll always find me in the kitchen
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A UNIQUE DISH
I'm from Delta State kwale, where we have some similarity and trait to that of the IGBOS We are called Delta Igbo infact. There are allot of dishes you can trace down to us
So I'll be taking the very popular EGUSI SOUP and POUNDED YAM
it's a dish you don't joke with in our parties, especially marriages...
PREPARED WITH THE POPULAR MELLON
PATTERNS DIFFER ALSO
Everyone has their unique method of preparing it, and I'm going to tell you mine
FIRST THINGS FIRST (Ingredients I prefer)
Mellon
Cray fish
Cow skin (Kpomor
Beef (steak)
Dried fish
Oil
Onion
Vegetable (Ugu)
Fresh tomatoes and pepper
Star Maggi
Salt
Clean water
WHAT TO DO WITH THEM ?
MELLON
Should be properly grinded
It can be dry grinded or wet grinded
If dry grinded, it should be soaked in water before use
KPOMOR AND BEEF
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Properly washed and cooked for 15minutes
Then I add my cray fish too, for the taste of the Ingredients to soak inside too
VEGETABLE and ONIONS
When slicing, it should not be too tiny as to get some nutrients retained after long cooking
FRESH TOMATOES and PEPPER
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Rough grinding is always ok by me
Both pepper and tomato, I have my hand blender I normally use...
LET'S START OUR COOKING
Get a big pot on the fire, allow to hot a little
Pour your red oil into the pan allow to hot for about 2minutes,
Add up a little salt, remember a Little
Immediately add the sliced onion, stir it for 1minute of less
Then you pour in your grinded tomatoes and pepper
Stir like you are frying your normal stew, but this one has to dry while frying (no water should be left in it)
When you notice it's dry, add the Soaked Mellon to it.
At this point you can't take your eyes of the pot, continuous stirring until it's not raw anymore (10 minutes of stirring can give you this) next is
Filter the water from the boiled meat and add to the Mellon, mix properly and leave for 3 minutes to boil
Next you add the meat, Kpomor and crayfish you've boiled
Then you can add fresh water of about (0.70litres)
Leave to boil for 5minutes
Add your sliced vegetables mix properly, leave to boil for 2minutes
Check for taste... Any amendment like salt, pepper or extra Maggi can be added
Now you can introduce your fish
Make sure it's properly washed (I always keep fish for last because allot of times it easily breaks)
This is the final 5minutes before dropping it down from the fire
TIME TO FACE THE SWALLOW POUNDED YAM
I'll always advise to use two point cooker (two fire source) so that as your soup is getting ready on one side, the yam will be done and ready for pounding too
While buying your yam ask properly the one for pounding
In this area of mine, they are familiar with two yams (AWARA and PAPER)
Awara alone is what you can use for pounding to get a better result
And sometimes this (RED YAM FROM EKPOMA... BENIN) Is awesome for pounding
I hope we've been learning so far
SOOOOOO
Yam being ready and out of the fire
We get our mortar for the pounding
It takes one to pound the food
Use a fork to pick one after the other and scatter it quickly, make it as smooth as possible before it gets cold
Continue pounding and stirring with mortar handle (pistol)
Pound for 7minutes continuously
Check texture if soft or strong
If strong add a little hot water from the pot you used in boiling yam
Pound softly at this point to avoid hot water spilling over you
After 3minutes do your hard pound and ready to remove from the mortar
Get a very neat breakable plate
And a rubber plate to scrape yam out of the mortar properly
Use hand to smoothing surface
And cover it to avoid it getting cold
Time to blend together
Serve your Mellon soup in a deep broken plate and getting a clean washing hand water.
Seat majestically, with a couple of individuals
And enjoy your meal... You can come back to thank me later
BENEFITS OF THIS MEAL
FIRST OF ALL
EGUSI is a good source of potassium and calcium
Has minerals that regulate blood pressure
Also a rich source of magnesium, phosphorus, iron and zinc
And just like all plant food, EGUSI is naturally cholesterol-free
YAM
Contains vitamins, mineral and fiber
May enhance brain function
Also have cancer fighting properties
May improve blood sugar control
And it's easy to add to your diet
SO YOU CAN TELL WHAT THIS TWO COMBINATION CAN GIVE TO YOUR BODY
Thanks for coming thus far, this is my entry on A TRADITIONAL MEAL unique to my people
Hope you had a wonderful time reading. Till next time
Please Stay safe
