Avartsy Cooking

Egusi Soup is a Nigerian dish made primarily from ground melon seeds. Melon seeds are an off white color, have an oval shape to them, and once ground, the seeds have a slightly oily feel which is to be expected and doesn’t affect taste. There are usually two variations of Egusi Soup; one involves the addition of chopped spinach and is typically called Egusi Elefo, while the other version does not use spinach, it’s simply plain Egusi soup, minus the vegetables.

8-10 s/m African chicken pieces

5-7 m pieces shaki/tripe

1 scotch bonnet pepper/rodo/habanero

1 cup Egusi/ground melon seeds

1/2 cup palm oil

1.5 cups shawa/dried fish

2 tbsps ground red pepper

2 tbsps curry powder

2 knorr cubes

2 fresh garlic cloves (chopped or sliced)

Ginger (size of garlic cloves/chopped)

1 bag fresh spinach

Smoked Turkey Vegetable Soup

Vegetable Soup in Nigerian Food lingo, is soup cooked with green, leafy vegetables like spinach. Usually, Vegetable Soup is cooked with a variety of meats ranging from beef, goat meat, shaki/tripe, cow’s foot, to chicken and seafood. As you can tell, it’s a soup rich in meat!

10-15 m pieces smoked turkey drums

1 m red bell pepper/tatashe

4 scotch bonnet pepper/rodo/habanero

4 fresh garlic cloves

Ginger (size of garlic cloves)

1 m tomato

1 s red onion

1 bag fresh spinach OR 2 chopped frozen packs spinach

1/2 cup palm oil

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 knorr cube OR 2 maggi cubes

1 tbsp curry powder

Coconut Jollof Rice

Coconut Jollof Rice is a play on your regular Jollof Rice, and the main difference between both would be the addition of Coconut Milk. Jollof Rice, is simply rice cooked in a tomato/pepper base which gives the dish its signature deep orange (oft times borderline red) color.

3 cups parboiled long grain white rice

1 can unsweetened coconut milk

1 s can tomato paste

3 m red bell peppers (tatashe)

3 m tomatoes

2 m red onions

4-6 scotch bonnet peppers (rodo)

5 garlic cloves

Ginger (size of garlic cloves)

3 tbsps curry powder

3 knorr cubes

3 bay leaves

1/2 cup palm oil

1/2 cup canola oil

Water

That is how you cook Nigerian food.