How to cook ukwa in Anambra state
African breadfruit, or ukwa, is a famous delicacy in Igboland and one of the most well-liked meals in Nigeria.
What is African
breadfruit, a question that keeps coming up? and how to make it just the way an
Igbo person would prefer.
What to offer a Yoruba
man for supper is one of the most frequent inquiries I receive through my
contact form from women who are married to Nigerian men. What to give an Igbo
man for breakfast and other things of that nature.
That was the major
reason I began a brand-new series on the meals consumed by the various Nigerian
ethnic groups, and in this article, we'll talk about African breadfruit (ukwa),
one of the favorite Igbo dishes.
I'll attempt to go
into depth about how I made this recipe in my own kitchen before briefly
discussing
The Two Ukwa Foods
Eastern Nigerians love
ukwa, and the Igbo people are quite familiar with the two recipes I'll be
discussing here.
Ukwa can be boiled with potash and eaten straight away, or it can be de-watered, with just the seeds mashed with some other ingredients, and then served with the plain cooked ukwa.
By the way, if you
live outside of Nigeria and cannot get ukwa nearby, you can buy it from our
online store.
The ingredients for
making Ukwa (African Breadfruit) are listed below; 3 persons might be served
with this amount. Depending on how many people you want to serve, you can raise
or decrease.
Ukwa's Ingredients
- Six cups of ukwa
- A spoonful of potash (akanwu)
- Pepper, fresh (about 5)
- Ogiri (not required) (a local ingredient)
- Maggi (half cube)
- Suitable salt
- Red oil (100ml)
- Maize in two glasses
How to Make Ukwa
It is vital to
repeatedly wash the ukwa seeds in a dish of clean water. To make sure all
hidden microscopic stones are sorted out, I also use a plastic sieve.
Cooking the ukwa
begins after heating a cooking pot with 5 cups of water. (breadfruit). Add the
potash once it's reached a boil. One cup of water should be used to dissolve
the potash; the clear water should then be filtered in, and the potash residue
should be discarded.
It is important to
remember that Ukwa never becomes soft (done) without the assistance of a
catalyst. (potash).
Additionally, ash made
by burning palm fronds fulfills the same function as potash and can be used in
place of it. The Igbos favor it and refer to it locally as "ngu."
Follow the same
procedure as if you were making ukwa with potash if you wish to make ukwa with
ngu: dissolve in a cup of water, let sit for a minute or two, then utilize the
filter.
Cook the ukwa until it
is soft enough to serve and eat. This is one of the two methods to consume
African breadfruit in Nigeria; some prefer to add a dash of salt, whereas some
Igbo groups don't use salt in this particular preparation.
When I attempted it in
high school, it took us more than three hours of cooking before we recognized
something was missing.
Recipe 2 for Breadfruit (Ukwa)
You will need the
ingredients listed below to complete the second dish (mashed Ukwa & Corn),
which picks up where the first one left off.
Use a mortar and
pestle to crush the peppers. Add a half-stock cube, 100ml of red oil, a bit of
salt, and ogiri. Stir. (Use a garri-turner, a spoon-like wood).
Add and mix in the soft corn.
The following image
will exactly match what you obtain after adding the soft ukwa seed and turning it with a wooden turner. Once you have finished preparing this African delicacy,
taste it for salt.
Serve the two items
together as shown below.
These are the two
recipes I am aware of for ukwa, African breadfruit.
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