Nigeria – Amala and Ewedu

By Verdzekov Bernard

Ewedu is a delicious soup mostly associated with the Yoruba people of Nigeria. This is mostly the western side of Nigeria. Ewedu is made from the leaves of a jute plant. This soup is usually garnished with caw skin (canda) and meat, red or dry meat, with pepper source. This soup is not only enjoyed by those in the western part of Nigeria, but by the whole of Nigeria. With local cuisines, most at times local ingredients are being used. The spices that make the soup aroma so wonderfully are usually locally harvested and used in the preparation of food in Africa. 

Ingredients

• 250kg of ewedu leafs
• Salt to taste 
• Maggi 
• Vegetable oil
• Curry powder 
• Garlics, green spice, ginger.
• Tomatoes 
• Onions 
• Pepper (optional)

Process

• Select the ewedu leaves. That is the good once from the bad leaves.
• Wash carefully but thoroughly to remove any dirt from the leaves such as sand.
• Put a pot with water and boil for about 20min. 
• Add pinch of salt and your maggi. 
• After it is soft enough, remove and blend using a blender. Blend all the leaves. Your ewedu soup is ready. the soup is usually eating joined with tomatoes source. The process for you to prepare your tomatoes source continues.  
• Boil meet with salt, pepper and with sliced onions about half a bulb of onions in a pot until is ready. This boiling process will take approximately 25-30min. After this is set, put aside while prepare the other ingredient for the stew.
• Boil your fresh tomatoes, making sure the water you put in the pot should be more than the tomatoes in the pot, drain well, then slice into small pieces and put in a blender and blend. Put in a boll. Then put the other ingredients like slice onions, chopped green spices, garlics, pepper, ginger and blend all together. In one pot, put all the blended ingredients into the pot you will use for the preparation of the stew. 
• Turn on the heat and allow to boil for about 10min. steer the pot frequently to prevent the paste from sticking to the pot. 
• Into the pot, add your meat stock with canned tomatoes and allow it to cook for about 5min or more. This can process tomatoes is needed just to increase the color of the stew to me. So, it could even be optional to some people. Make sure you use some of the stock not all so as to add to the source during the preparation. Because, in case of water shortage, you will use the stock water 
• Add about 1 or 1-1/2 glass of groundnut oil into the pot and steer well leaving it to cook for about 5min. Add water if you see the source is getting dry but not ready. The water most likely to be used should be the stock from the boiled meat. 
• Add curry powder, with your maggi and salt to taste. This should be about 2 sachets of curry powder. This curry powder is good as it helps increase the flavor of the stew you preparing. After adding the curry powder to the pot, you may finish the remaining stock water into the pot and then leave for about 5-10min steering it after 2 or 3min each so as to prevent the source from sticking to the pot.
• Your stew is ready. Serve with Ewedu soup and Amala.
• Amala is made from yams or cassava flour. 
• Boil water, about two to three cups of water. 
• With one or two cups of cassava or yams flour, pour into the hot the water while you steer using a wooden stick. When the water has been sucked all by the flour keep steering. This time you will be needing force. Steer well. if too soft, add some more flour and steer well. 
• Your amala is ready. Serve with Ewedu and tomatoes or pepper source with meat. 

Enjoy……