Food 4 The Weekend: Go Native With Banga Soup and Starch

…and its Friday!

Ever heard people from the Niger Delta region go on about Banga soup and wondered if it really is all that its been made out to be? Well we can categorically tell you that it is indeed all that and some more and this week, we’re offering you a chance to savour the richness of Banga soup from the comfort of your homes…so no you-can-eat-joints this weekend, it’ll be you and your well-made plate of soup and starch in front of your TV while nursing a drink of your choice!

Very similar to Ofe Awku which is native to the Igbos, the Banga soup of the Niger Delta origin however has a few alterations like the ataiko spice, iregeje and ground egusi or chopped okra for thickening. Also importantly, banga soup is ideally eaten with starch as opposed to eba, semo or pounded yam.

So get on your aprons and let’s hit the kitchen!

Ingredients

Palm Fruits (Banga)

Assorted Meat

Dry Fish

Salt

Seasoning Cube

Dry Pepper

Ataiko

Iregeje

Ground Egusi/Chopped Okra

Crayfish

Palm Oil

Starch

Preparation

• Wash and boil your palm fruits(banga) for about an hour until it’s soft
• Wash, season and boil your assorted meat/chicken
• Using a mortar and pestle, pound until all the flesh leaves the fruit, exposing the shell of the nut
• With boiling water and a sieve, squeeze the mash to extract the juice and rinse all the juice  into a pot, make sure no strands or particles of the palm fruit gets into the juice in the pot
• Add a little water and boil for about 20 minutes
• After it has boiled and some of the water has evaporated, add your salt, pepper, seasoning cube, crayfish and ground ataiko and iregeje. Keep boiling
• Add your already cooked meat and dry fish
• Add your grounded egusi/chopped okra or both for thickening
• Boil for abit and bring down your piping hot pot of soup

To prepare the starch:

• Dissolve the starch in water (the amount of water depends on the amount of starch you’re making)
• Put the dissolved starch in a pot, add very little palm oil and put on the fire
• Stir until it begins to thicken