I am very excited to be writing this. Very, very. I have never prepared Abacha before. To crown it all, I haven’t even eaten it before. I realised how much I had been missing yesterday. My friend Cynthia, her mum is around on holiday, and in true tradition of our Mummy’s, they always come with goodies from home. Mummy C came fully loaded, and of course, I got my own share of the booty. Benefit of being neighbours, Lol. Of the things she gave me were Egusi, Abacha, Ugba, ground Ehu spices and Pap. I have put 3 out of the list to good use, and I can’t wait to do something interesting and out of the box with Pap. My head has been churning for days, so be on the look out for a truly astonishing recipe with Pap.
Having these ingredients in my hand, was my first chance to prepare Abacha and I asked Mummy C for her recipe and instructions. I patiently wrote everything down and nervously started yesterday evening. Usually, I go into a new recipe with a lot of confidence, somehow this dish made me nervous. I guess it was due to the fact that I had told Mummy C, I will be bringing the finished product over, for her to appraise. Knowing someone will be judging your food can be quite unsettling, even for the best of cooks. I finally had a semblance of how contestants on cooking shows feel. Even shows like Masterchef The Professionals and Great British Menu who showcase the culinary skills of professional chefs highlight this nervousness, so who am I to feel over-confident. Lol
To a cook, your dish is like your baby and you don’t want anyone talking smack about it. Food is to a cook, as a piece of art is to an artist. We guard it jealously and we take it very personal. I also happen to have the temperament of an artist to boot, so imagine my delight, when Mummy C said I did well. Whoop, whoop. Trust me, she wasn’t just being nice because she critiqued my Nkwobi, and corrected me in one area. I will be posting my Nkwobi recipe tomorrow as my weekly Friday afternoon special. I am truly psyched about that, and it was my first time too. When I was done cooking, in my standard re-branding and packaging of Nigerian food, I have decided to call it a warm oil bean and cassava salad. Sounds posh eh? Lol. I can just imagine the look on a patron’s face when he/she looks at a menu and reads Warm Oil Bean and shredded Cassava salad with bewilderment. Yes, that is our well-known Abacha and Ugba, simply re-packaged for mainstream consumption. That day will come by His Grace, I just know it. If you have other interesting ideas for re-branding Abacha, please let me know.
So, come along with me and share in my journey to making Abacha and Ugba. If you’ve never tried it before too, come on, pick a leaf from my book, journey into uncharted waters. Trust me, you’ll really love this.
You will need
3 cups of Abacha – dried cassava flakes
1 1/2 cups of Ugba – oil bean
1/2 a tablespoon of Kaun – edible potash
Palm oil
1 – 2 pieces of Ata rodo – depending on how hot you want it
1 cup of Shredded stockfish or dried fish – optional
1 tablespoon of ground ehu spices – calabash nutmeg
1/2 of 1 red onion
Pomo – optional
For the grilled mackerel, you will need
roughly chopped onion
1 whole mackerel
1/2 teaspoon of curry powder
Salt
Seasoning cubes – knorr chicken cubes
Garlic
Fish sauce – optional
Pictures of the ingredients can be found on the Ingredientspaedia page HERE
How To
Prepare all your ingredients – chop or roughly grind the ata rodo, soak the abacha in warm water to allow it plump and soften, cut the fish into pieces and clean, mix the kaun with 1/2 a cup of water.
1. Start on the fish, so it can be grilling while you prepare the abacha. I prefer to grill rather than fry my fish. Way, more healthy. I do this for meat, chicken and turkey too. Season the fish with salt, 1 seasoning cube, curry powder, and fish sauce. The fish sauce already contains salt, same with the seasoning cube, so leave out the salt. If you are not using fish sauce, sprinkle in a little salt.
Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: I love the flavour of grilled onion and garlic, so to introduce it to the fish, I stuff the spaces with onions and garlic, and also place bits of it over the pieces of the fish.
Place in the oven, turn the knob to girl and set the temperature to 200. Gas mark 3
2. Now to the abacha. Soak in warm water for 20 minutes to allow the cassava flakes to soften
3. Mix the akawun/kaun and 3/4 cup of water. This will result in a grayish looking solution
4. Pour palm oil into a deep saucepan and stir in the kaun solution. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: you only need the solution at the top, do not stir in the sediments below. Stir in the akawun/kaun solution and watch as the red palm oil changes to a shade of light orange and increases in volume. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: add the kaun solution in bits, and watch for the thickness of the palm oil mixture. If you add too much of it, you end up with a watery palm oil mixture.
4. Add the ata rodo, ground ehu spices, ugba and stir. This will mop up some of the liquid content of the palm oil mixture.
Add the abacha
Combine the abacha with the rest of mixture.
If you are going to be using pomo and shredded stockfish, now is the time to add it and stir. Season with seasoning cube
To truly make it a warm salad, put the pot on low heat for 2 minutes to truly warm through and cook the seasoning cube. The thought of eating a dish containing seasoning cubes that hasn’t been cooked with heat, gave me heebie jeebies. So, please warm it slightly.
get the fish out of the oven and plate
see, no difference from frying is there? Taste the difference stuffing the fish with onions and garlic makes. Deeeelicious
………………………….and here’s my Abacha and Ugba, plated all pretty. Tell me if this was tagged Warm Oil Bean and shredded Cassava salad in a restaurant as a starter, you won’t eat it. Lol
When next you have a dinner party, consider serving this as a starter, or you can serve my Mosa and lemony palm oil sauce. Recipe HERE
A reader challenged me on the use of Kaun, which isn’t truly healthy to eat, and she’s asked that I find an alternative. I discussed this with Mummy C, and she said an alternative to Kaun is Ncha. Ncha is made from the ash of burnt palm kernel branches. So, great tip right there, people. Buy Ncha instead. I have definitely taken a note of that, as one of the things my mum will be bringing for me. For my readers who live outside Nigeria, this doesn’t help much, so back to high school chemistry and experimentation. I tried baking soda, cream of tartare (as it contains potassium), no luck with both. I then tried corn flour, as it is used to thicken sauces and gravy. I believe I got a winner with corn flour. Here’s my result below. It does have the look and consistency of the palm oil mixture with Kaun, doesnt it?
I will be experimenting with it fully on Saturday. I have another interesting spin on Nkwobi. Something outside of the standard cow leg.
dunni wonder as if u know wat i feel like eating. the water n kaun mixture is it d water dt is extracted from the soaked abacha u wud mix wt kaun? Second am pregnant hope i can still use kaun. Third, wen shd we expect nwobi receipe
Aaaw, congratulations Ijei. I hope you are enjoying your pregnancy. You have just given me an idea for a pregnancy series. If you don’t mind, can you please give me ideas on recommended dietary meals for pregnant women and what you’ll like to eat if for example you could hire me as a personal chef. What would you like to be eating based on your condition.
Now to your question, please ask your doctor if you can. If so, water from the tap is what you need to mix wit the kaun. Nkwobi recipe will be posted tomorrow afternoon.
yes why not. Ok in the hospital we were told to take more of vegetables, eggs, lots of protein, calcium, fruits n less of carbonhydrate, oily foods, and sugar
Thanks Ijei
No to eating Kaun when pregnant. It can cause miscarriages
Thank you for the tip Uzo
Sorry, my previous comment was warbled, here we go again:
Great job on your first try 🙂 I have heard Abacha being referred to as African Salad, so that’s an alternative for your re-branding efforts.
Is the plate on the left with the fish the Ugba dish?
No, the plate on the left is just the fish. I mixed the ugba with the abacha
dunni if am using conflour do i mix it in water like the kaun n leave out the sediments like the kaun and water mixture or i will jus add conflour to my palm oil.
Thanks
I combined corn flour with water to make a thick paste and I mixed with the palm oil. Corn flour will give no sediments at all, because it is flour. I think you should please wait till after I post an updated recipe using the cornflour. I only tried it out to see if it will combine well with the palm oil and give the yellow colour too. I did not take it further from there, and I don’t know yet how it will turn out.
Thanks for the clarification dear. I know you will say what is this chick on about lol. I was confused because Ugba is an actual dish as well, so when you wrote Abacha and Ugba I was expecting two separate dishes. But Ugba is used to make Abacha so I can see why you mentioned it. Great great job!
Thanks Adanne. Yeah, I know Ugba is a dish as well. Mummy C said I could combine both of them, and I am glad I did. I got the full on Abacha experience. lol
dunni goodevening i ve not seen your update on abacha like u promised this saturday
in place of the kaun u can use unripe plantain peels,roast it and use the ashes
Wow, thanks Crystal. Niiiiiiice.
Hi Dunnie, I stumbled on ur blog a couple of days ago… Although I jst got the chance to read thru now. I must say, ur doing an awesome job and u put a very interesting/ refreshing spin on our very own naija foods. Ur abacha recipe is on point but for me, like when I’m making it, there r things I add that I ddnt c in urs. @ this point, I’ll add that I live in Enugu state wc is like d home of abacha, so dese ingredients r peculiar to their own style( I think). Here goes: crayfish, ogiri abacha – its different frm d ogiri for bitterleaf soup, dry pepper(they have ds roasted one they use), garden egg leaves instead of utazi and garden eggs. If d ugba will b made separately, ogiri isn’t added to d sauce.
Sorry for d lengthy comment and please keep up d good work
Oh Chezura. Bless you. Thanks for the tips
Hi Dunni,
Great job you are doing on your blog!!I have been a ” Nicodemus”
going through almost every recipe you have here. I just wanted to say the food purist in me love the authenticity of the recipes and appreciates your honesty when you have to modify.Keep up the wonderful job!
Please send me your email. I need to place an ad on your website.
On @ Ijei’s question about the safety of Kaun in pregnancy
On @ Ijei’s question about the safety of
On to
aaaaaaaaw, thanks Mercy. [email protected]
love your blog! I always learn something new…really excited to learn that corn flour can be used in place of potash. nice!
You are welcome Idomagirl. Please let me know how it goes
Do you need to cook the ugba b4 mixting
Yes, boil for a few minutes
yes you do. for a few minutes, with a little salt.