I know some adults had a favorite food as a child, but as they got older and got the opportunity to try out several other cuisines both local and international, so does their change in taste or favourite meal follows, well, for me, weirdly as it may sound, my taste for my favourite meal has remain constant not because I haven't tried out other cuisines but because this meal has held a special place in my heart that it is so hard to get a replacement, now I know you would be be curious what that special meal is, it's the delightful "Water yam porridge"

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Now, let me tell you a story that came about this favorite meal, as a baby, my mum had a hard time weaning me off breastmilk to solids, according to her, I would spit out any solid meal she tried giving me, even the most expensive baby meal at that time, she became so worried about me losing weight and looking unhealthy because breastmilk wasn't sustaining for me as I grew older. Feeling worried after every trial and error, she took me down to my grandma's place to spend the weekend and also have a bit of rest, lucky for her and me as well, grandma prepared water yam porridge before our arrival, which is also known as "Ekpang nkukwo" in my local dialect. When it was time for lunch, grandma took over from my mum carrying me, so that my mum could have some rest after the journey home, according to mum, I was about 7-8 months old during that period, as my mum went to the sitting room to have her lunch, grandma stayed with me in the kitchen, which is usually a favorite spot for African mums to have their meal, especially after cooking.

After some time, mum came back to the kitchen probably to drink some water, but got met with a surprising sight, her picky eater of a baby was having a nice time hungrily taking every bite grandma was giving her, funny enough, according to her, I was not patient to have the next bite, as I would grab my grandma's hand with a cry to let me have another round until I was full, and for the first time in many nights, I had the best restful sleep that day, and so did my mum, she was so happy to have found the secret recipe to her baby's heart.

She didn't stop there, as grandma also suggested other local healthy meals like banana porridge to have a change and balanced diet, my mum was so happy, she didn't need to spend so much buying foreign expensive baby solid meals, her baby was a lover of local food, and I grew a very healthy, smart and beautiful baby that everyone loved to carry, with glowing skin and shiny long black hair, all as a result of the healthy local meal I was fed. To date, she never stops telling this story, funny enough, I also gave birth to a look-alike daughter who prefers local rich meals to store-bought foreign meals, she is a beautiful healthy baby as well, now 3 years old.

Water yam porridge has never left my dining table since then till date, even today, I prepared my favorite water yam porridge meal, I've always loved this meal even before knowing about its nutritional benefits, which are

It is rich in antioxidants, has a good percentage of calories stored, contains magnate and phosphorus, also a healthy diet for people with diabetes and very filling, to top it all, it can be prepared with an affordable amount of money, no need breaking the bank to cook this meal, especially now where the prices of food items have skyrocketed and people have no choice than to forsake their favorite meals because of the high cost of preparing them.

My favorite water yam porridge recipe

• Water yam
• Smoked fish(you can use other protein sources of your choice,
  whether meat, cow skin, fresh fish, etc)
• Crayfish
• Periwinkle
• pepper
• Seasoning
• Salt
• Palm oil
• Scent/Basil leaf etc
• Cooking Process

• I started by adding 2 cups of water into the pot to boil, this measurement depends on the size of the water yam

• Next, I washed all the ingredients, also blended the crayfish, and added the periwinkle, crayfish, smoked fish, seasoning cubes, pepper, and salt into the pot of boiling water, which is basically almost all the ingredients

It is better to prepare ingredients before you start cooking, I made sure to peel the raw back and cut the water yam into big chunks before grating it to a paste, you could also use a blender, but I prefer my local method because it's what I learned from my mum, modern age hasn't influenced me,

When the pot of water with the ingredients started boiling, I added the blended water yam in small balls Into the pot of boiling water stock, this is to make sure that it cooks evenly and properly, next, I covered the pot for about 6-10 minutes to let it cook well.

I Checked with my spoon to make sure the water yam is well cooked before adding the sliced scent leaf and palm oil alongside, finally stirred well to make sure the ingredients were evenly distributed to all corners of the pot, after which I covered the pot and switch off the gas to let my porridge simmer for a few minutes before you serving.

There you have it, easy, less expensive, and less time-consuming as well, the ingredients are easy to source in our local market, I hope you try out this recipe and let me know what you think about this meal as well. I bet you would absolutely love it.

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Thank you for reading.❤❤

All images used in this post are mine, except otherwise stated.