1. Ofada rice with stew: Ofada is a small town in the South-Western part of the country. Its residents are known to be rice farmers, hence the rice grown is named after the town. This rice is brownish in colour and sold across the country.
Ingredients: 2 and a half cups ofada rice, 5 cups water, 1 tsp. vegetable oil (optional), 1 tsp. Salt.
Direction to cook includes heat up the 5 cups of water in a pot till it boils, rinsing the rice thoroughly with cold running water and pouring it into the pot of boiling water. Add salt and oil. Thereafter, cook for 35 minutes or until it's ready (soft to eat).
2. Pounded yam and melon soup (egusi): This delicacy is also known among the southwestern Yoruba people. The ingredients for 2 servings include 1 tuber of yam, 2 cups of ground melon, fresh tomatoes, fresh pepper, 1 medium-sized ice fish, Palm oil, onion, stock cube, 1 tsp of salt, 1 small bunch of ugwu leaf.
Directions to cook: Peel, wash, and boil the yam till it's well-cooked. Pound in a mortar with a pestle, mould into balls, and set aside. Add a little water to ground egusi in a pot to form a thick paste with blended pepper, onion, and tomatoes. Stir the mixture and allow it to cook before adding palm oil. Pour in some water to lighten the soup if too thick, stock cubes, salt to tast,e and your fried ice fish. Finally, add chopped ugwu leaf and allow to cook for 5 minutes. Serve pounded yam and egusi soup.
3. Afang soup is eaten by the Efikis/Ibibio people of Nigeria. This soup has a bit of a bitter taste, but highly nutritious and tasty.
Ingredients are Smoked fish, beef or assorted meat, ground crayfish, periwinkle (optional), Afang Leaves (dry or fresh), Water leaves (Alternatively, lamb lettuce or Spinach), Palm oil, Stock cubes, Fresh pepper or ground dried pepper (to taste), and salt to taste.
Directions to cook: wash and cut Afang leaves, pound or blend them, and set aside. Then, slice the water leaves and set aside. Cook until tender the assorted meat, smoked fish, or beef and stockfish with chopped onions, one stock cube/seasoning cube, and salt to taste. Then clean the dried fish in hot water, remove the bones to avoid choking while eating, and add the fish to the pot of cooked meat. Add the Palm oil, pepper, ground crayfis,h and stock cube to the pot. Mix well and then add periwinkles (if you are using any). Add salt to taste. Cover the pot and leave to boil for about 12 minutes. After 12 minutes, add the Afang leaves, leave to simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, and then add the water leaves. Afang soup is ready to be served hot with Starch, Pounded Yam, Wheat meal, Eba, Fufu, Semolina, and Amala.
4. Tuwo shinkafa is popular throughout the northern parts of Nigeria. It is a unique dish consisting of rice flour or soft, short-grained rice and water.
Ingredients: 1 cup white rice (non-parboiled) and 3 cups water
Directions to cook: Wash the non-parboiled rice in a pot. Add water to the rice and let it cook till the water is dry and very soft. Next, using a wooden spoon, mash the rice against the edges of the pot to bring the rice together. Stir and mash continuously until it forms one nice lump. Tuwo Shinkafa is often served as an accompaniment to various soups and stews such as egusi, miyan Kuka, miyan taushe, and stew for overall nutrition.
Original Source: "Nigerian Foods, Tips and Cooking" by Olaniyan Taibat (no longer published online)
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