West African Recipes & Cookbooks

How to Cook dishes from West Africa

• Amala - A dish made from yam flour and hot water, eaten with soup or vegetables. It is a popular dish among the Yoruba people of Nigeria. There are two main varieties which differ slightly in preparation method: amala isu (a black dough), and amala lafun (a white dough).
  
  
• Eba - A dough made from cassava flour, eaten in southern Nigeria. It is usually eaten with pepper soup (obe ata), with vegetables with meat or fish, or with stewed vegetables.
  
  
• Fufu - A starchy vegetable paste made by boiling root vegetables and mashing. It is a staple food in West Africa, and is usually made principally from yams, although other ingredients such as cocoyam, maize or plantains may be added. It is often served with a soup, the idea being to scoop up a ball of fufu, make an indentation in that, fill the indentation with that, and then swallow the whole thing (among some people, chewing may be considered a breach of etiquette).
  
  
• Jollof rice - This dish, probably originally from Senegal (Ghana and Nigeria are also sometimes claimed as the source of the recipe), has become popular all over West Africa. It is made from rice, tomatoes, onions, seasonings and spices. Vegetables and meats may also be added.
  
  
• Kenkey - A sour dough dumpling that is eaten in Ghana. It is made from fermented corn (maize). The fermented corn is partially cooked, and then wrapped in banana leaves or a corn husk and steamed. Kenkey may be eaten with soup, stew, or a sauce.
  
  
• Yassa - Marinated chicken or fish with lemon and onions.

• African Recipes & Cookbooks