This Weekly Nigerian Meal Planner
is to help plan meals for the week. Some like to plan ahead and cook
everything for one week over the weekend and not have to worry about
cooking during the week, while others go with the flow and cook in the
week or whenever is needed or better yet, order take out!
These are general guidelines on creating a meal plan for the week
with emphasis on consuming a considerable amount of fruits and
vegetables. You can take the basic meal planner and tweak it as you see
fit to fit your schedule and lifestyle. There are two meal planners in
this post: one for readers in Nigeria and the other for readers in the
U.S, U.K, Canada and elsewhere overseas. You can take elements from both
to create your own if you’d like and if ingredients are readily
available in your neck of the woods, you’re also free to substitute one
for the other. You can also find most of the recipes on our site.
First up, the meal planner for readers in Nigeria:
Cereal w skim milk OR a Granola bar. Water to drink.
TUESDAY
½ a Bagel or a mini bagel w/ light cream cheese. Cup of tea/coffee
1 cup mixed fruits/nuts
Asaro w/ goat meat/chicken stew. Water to drink
Fruit Salad
Rice w/ Efo Riro (vegetable stew)
Cereal w skim milk OR a Granola bar. Water to drink.
WEDNESDAY
Scrambled Eggs w/sausages. Cup of tea/coffee
Any fruit in season
White Rice & Ayamashe. Water to drink.
Fruit Salad
Noodles w/ meat or chicken stew & a boiled egg
Cereal w skim milk OR a Granola bar. Water to drink.
THURSDAY
Bread & stew. Cup of tea/coffee.
Granola Bar
Iyan (pounded yam) w/ Egusi stew. Water to drink
Fruit Salad
Boiled Plantains w/ meat or chicken stew OR vegetable stew. Water to drink
Cereal w skim milk OR a Granola bar. Water to drink.
FRIDAY
Instant Quaker Oats w/ a cup of tea/coffee
Any fruit in season
Rice w/fish stew. Soda or juice.
Fruit Salad
Spaghetti w/ chicken stew. Water to drink.
Cereal w skim milk OR a Granola bar. Water to drink.
SATURDAY
Pancakes or Crepes w/ sausages. Cup of tea/coffee.
Any fruit in season
Eba w/ Okra soup (and meat/chicken stew). Water to drink.
Meat/Chicken Pies
Fried Rice w/ coleslaw, fried chicken. Juice.
Cereal w skim milk OR a Granola bar. Water to drink.
SUNDAY
Boiled Yam w/ fried eggs, stew & sausages. Cup of tea/coffee
Any fruit in season
Beans w/ chicken stew. Water to drink.
Fruit Salad
Fried Plantains w/ vegetable stew. Water to drink
Cereal w skim milk OR a Granola bar. Water to drink.
Notes:
After having dinner, try snacking on something light if you still feel hungry, more so if you’re concerned about your weight.
Soda, juice and the like, (as much as they taste good!) are usually
loaded with sugar and hence, empty liquid calories, so substitute for
water where possible and if you’re one who doesn’t like the ‘taste’ of
water, try adding lemon/lime/cucumber slices for a subtle change in
taste.
If you do decide to eat cereal after dinner, ensure that it’s not one loaded with sugar.
Though some days might call for meals like Eba or Iyan (pounded
yam), it doesn’t mean you should eat mountains and mountains of it (till
you feel the need to make a slit in your side so your stomach can
‘breathe,’ lol)! Eat everything in moderation.
You see, Oma cares, LOL......Let me know what you think
Try these 6 cooking tricks to make a flavor-packed soup recipe in 30 minutes
At the end of a long and tiring day, spending a lot of time cooking
dinner is not always appealing. But with a hungry family ready for
dinner, you need a meal that’s quick and easy, has minimal cleanup and
is healthy and satisfying.
The solution? A soup pot and some on-hand ingredients are all you
need to get a wholesome dinner on the table fast. Soup is inexpensive,
too; most can be made for less than $3 a serving. Find out EatingWell's 6
secrets to speedy soup success
iet. With easy homemade recipes, cutting back on processed foods and eating clean is easier than you might think.
We may never all agree on just what "eating clean" really means, but
if cleansing your diet means you think about your food, learn more about
where it comes from and how healthy it is for you, that's a good thing.
Start by eating wholesome fruits and vegetables, especially those that
are in season. Choose whole grains and whole-grain products over refined
ones. Try limiting (but not necessarily eliminating) saturated fats,
sodium and added sugars in your cooking and in the prepared foods you
choose.
For many of us, the easiest way to eat clean is to cook at home.
While we don't all have time to make everything we eat from scratch, it
can be fun (and easy!) to try your hand at making a few of the
convenient processed foods you’d usually buy.
What are processed foods? They often come in a box or a jar, are can
be high in added sugars, low in fiber and whole grains, processed with
sodium, high in fat or include trans fat and lots of saturated fat.
While snack foods, candy, cookies and crackers are certainly
considered processed foods, “healthy” foods can fall into this category
too. Here is a list of 6 common processed foods that you can easily make
a healthier homemade version of:
EatingWell's 7-Day Weight-Loss Diet Meal Plan is designed to provide an
overall healthy-eating program at five different daily caloric levels:
1,200, 1,400, 1,600, 1,800 and 2,000. The menus are packed with
nutrient-rich foods, including whole grains, lean meats, low-fat dairy
and plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Find out which calorie level is best for your with this simple calculation. Using that daily calorie goal, cut 500 calories per day to lose one pound per week. To lose two pounds, cut 1,000 calories. H
lb uncooked medium shrimp, peeled (tail shells removed), deveined
1
cup chopped green onions
1In
wok or large skillet, heat sesame oil over medium heat. Cook eggs in
oil, stirring constantly, until thickened but still moist. Remove eggs
from skillet to plate; cover to keep warm.
2In
same skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add broccoli,
carrots and pea pods; stir-fry until crisp-tender. Reduce heat to
medium. Stir in rice, garlic, gingerroot and soy sauce. Add shrimp. Cook
5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until rice is hot and shrimp are
pink.
3Stir in scrambled eggs and green onions; cook 1 minute longer. Serve immediately.
Expert Tips
Brown rice is a nutritious option that can be used in this recipe.
Use your favorite combination of veggies in this fried rice.
Make a starter then make a loaf of delicious cinnamon bread.
We've detailed everything you need to know to kick off this fun
tradition—from a simple starter mix to the first, fresh-from-the-oven
slice.
Amish friendship bread is a quick bread made with a sweet, sourdough
starter. The starter ferments for 10 days then doubles in size. Every
day the starter must be tended to (Don’t worry: it’s as easy as you
squishing the bag it comes in!). On the 10th day you share some of the
starter with friends (so they can begin making their own loaves) and
bake two delicious loaves of cinnamon-scented bread for you and a new
friend.
Check out the recipe for instructions on how to get started. After
your starter has been stirred and squished for ten days, you're ready to
make a batch of bread.
This recipe isn't just simple and delicious; it's also a fun way to
teach your kids basic baking skills. Begin by mixing the ingredients
together to make a smooth batter.
Spray two large loaf pans with nonstick baking spray (the kind
with flour in the mix). If you can't find baking spray, generously
butter and flour the pan instead. The more the merrier when it comes to
greasing a pan so that the bread won't stick!
This is where the bread takes a turn for the delicious!
Traditional Amish Friendship bread is a loaf of cinnamoney goodness. But
we amped things up with an extra cinnamon swirl. (It’s so beautiful to
slice into!) To give your loaves a final flair, scoop about 1/3 of the
batter into a medium bowl, add cinnamon (lots and lots of cinnamon),
then whisk until the batter changes to a deep, brown color.
Now place little dollops of the cinnamon batter into the bowl
with the remaining batter and use a fork or knife to gently swirl
together, but just a little!
You want to keep those nice, big swirls intact by not overmixing.
Now pour the batter into your two, prepared loaf pans…
And get ready to bake in a hot oven. The loaves will need about
an hour to bake—the perfect amount of time to clean the kitchen.
Once your loaves are out of the oven and cooled, wrap them up with a note and share with a new friend.
They'll be so glad you did, and you will too!
Don't forget to give your bread with a bag of friendship bread
starter to keep the fun going for everyone, all year long.
When some people think of beans, they assume there are only few ways you can make it. Gbegiri is soup made from beans and it is easy to make and very tasty. This is a traditional Nigerian recipe that is specific to the Yoruba People. Many Nigerian Soups have their variations. Gbegiri is on of those dishes. You can add or subtract from it to fit your taste buds. Some like it really spicy and some like it mild. Gbegiri is a Yoruba word which means ‘beans’. Vegetarians can have their version of this dish by skipping on the meat, chicken etc but still getting the protein requirement from this meal. Enjoy the Pot Pourri version of the Gbegiri Recipe.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup of beans
Red Oil
Stock (Dry) Fish
Meat
Salt
Cube
Grounded Crayfish
Dry Pepper
Blended pepper and Tomato
Recipe
Soak the beans in some hot water; this makes it easier for the back of the beans to come off
Wash the beans until it is completely clean.
Put it in a pan and allow to boil for an hour and 30 minutes or until it is completely soft and mushy.
In another pot, boil your meat and add the necessary seasoning.
Using a sieve, extract the liquified beans. Use a spoon as this is easier, and it will help remove all the water completely.
Transfer the extraction into a clean pot and add the red oil, a little blended pepper, and dry pepper.
Allow to boil for 3-5 minutes, then add the meat stock.
Season to taste
Add the dry fish( ensure you soak the dry fish in some hot salted water before using it) and the cray fish.
Allow to boil on low heat for 10 minutes.
You can serve with ewedu (jute leaves) and pounded yam or amala.
Samosa is an Indian delicacy but Nigerians love it so much!
It is now a constant feature at every party. Be sure to look for it
in the small chops section and hurry because it is usually one of the
first to disappear.
Ingredients for Samosa
The following ingredients make 8 samosas:
The dough:
60g (2 oz) plain flour (all purpose flour)
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
A pinch of salt
Warm water
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
The filling:
2 medium Irish potatoes
2 handfuls of green peas
100g minced beef
2 cooking spoons of vegetable oil
1 big stock cube
1 stalk of spring onion (cut into thin circles)
1 teaspoon of curry powder (for colour, no chilli)
Salt and ground cayenne pepper (to taste)
Feel free to customize the filling to your taste but the classic Indian Samosa must contain Irish potatoes and green peas.
Spring Rolls originated from Asia but Nigerians have recently been bitten by the Spring Rolls bug!
I love Spring Rolls because once you get the Spring Rolls Wrappers
right, you can fill them up with anything and they will taste great.
They are usually filled with vegetables (hence spring) but I love to add
beef to my spring rolls filling. How to make Spring Rolls [Video]
Ingredients for Spring Rolls
For the Spring Rolls wrappers:
You can use store-bought wrappers for your spring rolls or you can make them yourself. To see how to make them at home, see: Homemade Spring Rolls Wrappers.
For the filling:
You can use any combinations of beef and/or vegetables for your spring rolls filling.
The following quantities of ingredients will make make a filling for 15 spring rolls. I use:
50g minced beef
A handful green peas
1 spring onion
1 medium carrot
1 small green bell pepper
Habanero (Scotch bonnet) pepper (to taste)
1 Stock cube
1 teaspoon thyme
A small quantity of vegetable oil
For sealing the spring rolls:
1 tablespoon plain flour (all purpose flour)
2 tablespoons cold water
See the video below for details of how to make Spring Rolls. The written recipe is exclusive to the
Spring Rolls originated from Asia but Nigerians have recently been bitten by the Spring Rolls bug!
I love Spring Rolls because once you get the Spring Rolls Wrappers
right, you can fill them up with anything and they will taste great.
They are usually filled with vegetables (hence spring) but I love to add
beef to my spring rolls filling.
Ingredients for Spring Rolls
For the Spring Rolls wrappers:
You can use store-bought wrappers for your spring rolls or you can make them yourself. To see how to make them at home, see: Homemade Spring Rolls Wrappers.
For the filling:
You can use any combinations of beef and/or vegetables for your spring rolls filling.
The following quantities of ingredients will make make a filling for 15 spring rolls. I use:
50g minced beef
A handful green peas
1 spring onion
1 medium carrot
1 small green bell pepper
Habanero (Scotch bonnet) pepper (to taste)
1 Stock cube
1 teaspoon thyme
A small quantity of vegetable oil
For sealing the spring rolls:
1 tablespoon plain flour (all purpose flour)
2 tablespoons cold water
See the video below for details of how to make Spring Rolls. The written recipe is exclusive to the
Groundnut Soup (Peanut Soup) is next
best soup after Egusi Soup. It is prepared the same way as Egusi Soup so
you can apply the two methods of preparing Egusi Soup to Groundnut Soup
with great results. Nigerian Groundnut Soup [Video]
If you cannot find the ingredients to cook Egusi Soup
where you live, Groundnut Soup is a great alternative. I must say that
it has some sweetness to it that takes a bit of getting used to if you
have not tasted the soup before.
Palm oil mainly adds colour and sometimes taste to Nigerian soups so add enough quantity to colour the soup to your liking.
Bitter leaves help tone down the sweetness of this soup so if you
do NOT have a sweet tooth, then you should use bitterleaves in
preparing this soup. Let's put it this way: if you prefer bitter leaves
for your Egusi Soup, then you should use them for Groundnut Soup too.
You can also use fresh habanero peppers in place of dry cayenne peppers.
Tool
Before you cook Groundnut Soup
Soak the stockfish and dry fish for a few hours. The length of
time depends on how hard the stock fish is. Some even need to be boiled a
bit. Mine soaks in under 1 hour. When soft, clean the fish, remove the
bones and separate them into small pieces.
Roast the raw groundnuts in a pan, stirring constantly till they look like this. Set aside to cool down completely then grind into powder with a dry mill.
Wash and cut the Nigerian pumpkin leaves into tiny pieces. If
using frozen spinach, cut into small pieces and wring out the excess
water when fully defrosted.
Prepare other ingredients: grind the pepper and grind the crayfish.
Cooking Directions
Start cooking the shaki first as it is the toughest meat in the
bunch. Always keep water to the same level as the contents of the pot
and top it up as you cook.
When the shaki starts to curl, add the dry fish and stockfish.
When the shaki is almost done, add beef and stock cubes and cook till all the meat and fish are well done.
Add the crayfish, salt and pepper, cover and cook till it boils.
Transfer the meat and fish to another pot/container leaving the stock in the pot.
Add the ground groundnuts and stir very well till there are no lumps. Reduce the heat to very low and start cooking.
Stir every 5 minutes and top up the water if necessary. This
mixture burns easily so watch it closely and stir as often as necessay.
Cook till a thin film of clear oil appears on the surface. This should take about 15 minutes. Add palm oil and stir very well.
Add the beef and fish, stir and cook on low heat till it boils.
For those who prefer their groundnut soup without vegetables, the soup
is ready at this time. If you prefer it with vegetables then go to step
10.
Add the vegetables, stir and leave to simmer. Stir again and it is done.
Mango boosts our ability to combat cancer, heart disease and eye problems.
Faced with the enticing fragrance of Alphonso mangoes, nagging
concerns about food miles and air freighting have a tendency to fly out
the window. The fibrous cucumber-meets-courgette flesh of the Tommy
Atkins – our supermarkets' cosmetically groomed pet variety – is easy to
resist. But the Indian Alphonso and the Pakistani Langra and Chaunsa
mangoes, when they appear from May onwards, are utterly irresistible.
Uneven in colour, with imperfections on the skin, they come
tissue-wrapped inside snug little boxes bedecked with sub-continental
tinsel and exotic cargo labels worthy of Indiana Jones. These
subcontinental mangoes are picked mature and are usually rewardingly
ripe. Select those that are soft, not squashy, and use their scent as an
indicator of eating quality.
Why mangoes are good for you
Mangoes
contain a store of phenolic and carotenoid compounds (gallotannins,
alpha-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin and more) that seem to offer some
protection against several types of cancer. Vitamin A and beta-carotene
in mango can boost your eye health, while vitamin B6 helps control
homocysteine in the blood. High levels of this amino acid are associated
with increased risk of heart disease and stroke. The soluble fibre in
mangoes slows down the release of sugar into your blood, but mangoes are
sweet, so not the best fruit choice for slimmers.
Cardamom labneh with mango and rosewater
You'll
need a new J-cloth or clean muslin to make this labneh, a fresh cheese
made by straining yoghurt, preferably overnight. It has many sweet and
savoury uses and makes a good fresh accompaniment to fruit. Serves 4 ½ tbsp soft brown sugar 8 cardamom pods, deseeded and crushed to a powder Zest and juice of ½ lime 300g Greek yoghurt 1 tbsp honey 1 tsp rosewater 2 mangoes 30g shelled pistachios, roughly chopped 1 Combine the sugar, cardamom and lime zest, then stir into the yoghurt. 2
Scald some muslin or a new J-cloth in boiling water and leave to cool.
Wring it out then use it to line a sieve big enough to hold the yoghurt.
Place the sieve over a bowl and tip the yoghurt into it. Tie up the
cloth and give it a squeeze. Leave to strain overnight, or for a full
day if you have the time. Give it a squeeze occasionally. 3
Make the syrup by bringing 100ml water and the honey to the boil.
Simmer until the mixture thickens, leave to cool and then add the
lime juice and rosewater. 4 Peel the mango,
carefully slicing the flesh from the central stone and cutting into
lengths. Lay the slices in a dish and pour over the cooled syrup. 5
To serve, turn the labneh out of the sieve and cut into quarters. Top
with mango slices and syrup, then scatter a few pistachios on top.
The fasting diet, otherwise known as the 5:2, restricts calories for two days a week.
For the first time since university I am on a diet. Somehow,
I've become a calorie-counter, someone who weighs out porridge oats and
drinks herbal tea. In other words, the kind of person I've always
pitied.
The thing is, I'm actually quite enjoying it – enjoying being a
relative term, of course. In an ideal world, I'd boast the kind of
robust metabolism that laughs in the face of cooking six bakewell tarts an afternoon, but I don't. And since I started my Perfect recipe column
a couple of years ago, I've noticed the pounds slowly creeping on.
There's a lot to love about my job, but it does make it almost
impossible to eat healthily. The fasting diet, otherwise known as the 5:2
because of the format – five days of normal eating a week and two in
which you restrict your calories (500kcal for women, 600kcal for men) –
seemed to offer a glimmer of hope for my hips. It's basically the diet
for people who like food. Everyone from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to wine writer Fiona Beckett has been boring on about fast days, and if they could do it, well, so could I. So
far, I've managed two months. As someone who's never made a habit of
weighing themselves, I can only tell you that I think I've lost about
10lb since I started, which includes a two-week period over Easter where
I gave myself a bit of a break, but only put back on 1lb. The odd
thing was, after Easter I was impatient to get going again. The 5:2
already feels like a long-term project. It's not difficult to stick to
either. After all, if you really want a biscuit, you can always have one
tomorrow – a thought I find extremely cheering. Many people I've
spoken to seem to avoid cooking at all on a fast day, reasoning perhaps
that it simply puts temptation in their way. Indeed, in her book, the Fast Diet, co-authored with Dr Michael Mosley, whose 2012 BBC Horizon programme on fasting
kickstarted interest in the idea, Mimi Spencer advises preparing food
in advance, and keeping it simple, "aiming for fast-day flavour without
effort". I couldn't disagree more. For me, the challenge of
devising satisfying recipes that fit within the daily 500-kcal limit has
kept fast days interesting, and frankly, if you're only going to be
eating two small meals a day, heating them up in the microwave makes
things even more depressing. Here are a few tips I've found useful so
far, and three of my favourite fast-day recipes … • Low-calorie
cooking is all about strong flavours: pungent spices, zesty lemon juice
and salty soy sauce will all help to distract your attention from the
missing calories, as will lots of garlic and big handfuls of fresh
herbs. • Don't be too hard on yourself. Usually I sniffily avoid
artificial sweeteners, but a cold glass of slimline tonic with a slice
of lime and plenty of ice goes down a treat when everyone else is
glugging wine. I've even been known to indulge in a low-calorie pot of
jelly when I'm feeling particularly wild. • Carbs are rarely worth
the calories. A paltry 50g of brown rice takes up over a third of your
daily calorie count. Save them for tomorrow and fill up on vegetables
and berries instead. • Pickles such as gherkins (14kcal per 100g) and miso soups (20-30kcal a cup) are your friends for snacks. • Drink lots. Sparkling water, evil diet drinks and weird and wonderful teas will keep you occupied mid-afternoon. •
Embrace your inner nerd and invest in a set of electronic scales and a
calorie-counting book or app, or you'll find it impossible to measure
your intake accurately.
Sweet spiced porridge
(Serves 1, 202kcal) 40g porridge oats Grating of nutmeg Pinch of cinnamon Pinch of salt 5g mixed peel 10g currants Put
the oats into a small pan with about twice as much water. Heat gently
and stir until they're thick and creamy. Add more water if you prefer
them runnier. Season with nutmeg, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Stir in
the mixed peel and currants and spoon into a bowl.
Roasted broccoli, garlic and chilli soup
(Serves 2, 200kcal each) 600g broccoli (2 medium heads) 4 cloves of garlic, unpeeled 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp chilli flakes 600ml chicken or vegetable stock 1 unwaxed lemon 10g grated parmesan Preheat
the oven to 200C. Cut the broccoli into florets and chop the stalk into
large chunks. Put in a baking dish with the garlic and toss well with
the olive oil, chilli and some coarse sea salt. Roast for about 20
minutes until tender and the broccoli florets are beginning to char. Put
the chunks of stalk in a food processor, along with the larger florets.
Squeeze the garlic from its skin and add to the stock. Whizz until
smoothish. Pour into a pan and reheat, diluting slightly if you prefer a
thinner soup. Grate in the zest of half a lemon and add a squeeze of
juice. Season to taste. Spoon into bowls, and top with the remaining
florets, and parmesan. Serve immediately.
Frozen yoghurt with berries
(Serves 1, 120kcal or 100kcal without the honey) 150g frozen berries 100g fat-free Greek yoghurt 1tsp honey (optional) Blend
half the berries with the yoghurt in a food processor until smooth. Add
the honey and whizz again, then taste and add a little more lemon if
necessary (you can also add more honey, but bear in mind each teaspoon
adds 20kcal). Scoop into a bowl or glass and top with the remaining
berries.
My grandmother always told me that Abacha is not a meal. Though it
can be as filling as any other main course meal, African Salad is
usually eaten as an in-between meal. How to Make Abacha with Ugba [Video]
I remember vividly how my grandma prepared Abacha as soon as she came
back from the Eke or Afor market, garnished with a generous serving of
garden eggs and the leaves, with some dry fish. Oh, I will never forget
the long vacations spent at grandma's place. Abacha
is prepared with cassava. The cassava tubers are cooked till done then
sliced with a special cutter. The sliced cassava is then soaked in cold
water overnight, washed thoroughly and dried under the sun.
Your African Salad will not be complete without Ugba. Ugba, also known as Ukpaka, is made from oil bean seeds. These seeds are cooked for several hours then sliced, washed and fermented for a few days.
Ingredients for Abacha
The following are the complete ingredients you need to make a
delicious African Salad. I will group the ingredients for ease. I did
not use all these in the video because they are not available where I
live.
For African Salad, the more ingredients you use, the tastier and more
"complete" it will be. Some people may regard Ugba as optional but for
me, it is a must :)
Minimum ingredients for making Abacha (African Salad)
Prepare the ehu seeds by roasting, dehauling and grinding them with a dry mill. See this video for how to do that.
If you will use kanda (cow skin), cook till done and cut into small pieces.
Depending on your choice of fish (you can also use all of them),
fry or roast the mackerel, soak the stockfish in water and debone the
dry fish.
Wash and cut the vegetables into tiny pieces. Cut the big bulb of
onion into tiny pieces and cut the medium one in circles. Wash the
garden egges and set aside, no need to cut these.
Grind the crayfish and pepper
Soak the Abacha in cold water and rinse the Ugba with lukewarm water.
Once the Abacha has softened, put in a sieve to drain.
Put the powdered potash in a cup or bowl and pour about 1 cup of
cold water. Stir well and you are ready to start making the African
Salad.
Making the African Salad
The key to making a good African Salad is to make sure that all the
ingredients are well incorporated. As you will see below, there's a lot
of add this, stir, add that, stir. You may wonder why you can't just add
everything and stir but if you do that, it will be very difficult for
you to get a good blend of all the ingredients.
Pour the palm oil into a sizeable pot. Yes you need all that oil
so that your Abacha will not have a dry feel in the mouth when done.
Pour the water from the potash mixture, making sure not to pour the
sediments.
Stir very well and you'll see the oil turn into a yellow paste.
Add the ground pepper, ground ehu, crushed stock cubes, crayfish,
diced onions and ugba (ukpaka), then stir very well. Please not that we
are doing everything off the stove.
Add the iru/ogiri and make sure it is mixed very well. Add the diced kanda/pomo and stir very well.
Now add the soaked and drained Abacha and stir till it is well-incorporated in the palm oil paste.
Add the sliced Utazi and salt to taste and stir well. You can
also use dry Utazi if the fresh one is not available where you live. It
is important that you add salt last because after adding all that
seasoning, your Abacha may not even need salt anymore.
I like my Abacha warm. If you like yours that way too, transfer
to a stove at this point and heat it up to your desired temperature at
medium heat. When done, turn off the heat and add the sliced garden egg
leaves, stir very well and serve.
If you like your Abacha cold, after step 6, add the sliced garden egg leaves, stir and serve with garden eggs, fish and onions.
You are done! Eat with chilled palm wine for the full effects :)
Watch the video below to see how I did mine. I used minimal
ingredients but don't be shy about using all the possible ingredients if
these are available to you.
Coleslaw simply means cabbage salad. It
is a blend of finely shredded cabbage, carrots and a few other crunchy
vegetables. It is then generously dressed with mayonnaise and salad
cream.
It is generally eaten as a side dish to such foods as Jollof Rice, Fried/Barbecued Chicken, Moi Moi and many other rice dishes.
Coleslaw is usually served chilled to allow the dressing settle into the vegetables.
Cut the cabbage, green bell pepper and onions into very tiny pieces.
Scrape and shred the carrots using a grater, then use a knife to cut across the shreds to make the pieces even smaller.
Put the cabbage, green pepper, green peas, onions and carrots into a large bowl and stir till you get a good mix.
In a separate, smaller bowl, mix the salad cream, mayonnaise, sugar and salt.
Pour the cream mix into the bowl of vegetables and stir very well.
Chill and serve.
Note: If you prefer the coleslaw creamier, you can
increase the quantity of the salad cream. Feel free to add a pinch of
ground pepper if you like it spicy.
Sometime ago, on my Facebook fan page, a
fan asked me for the Nigerian Chapman drink recipe. That question took
me down memory lane, to the first time I had a chapman at a Chinese
restaurant in the Coal City of Enugu. I remember I loved it so much. So I
thought, hang on my lovely, we are going to make that chapman together!
So off I went to Google in search of the Nigerian Chapman drink
recipe. I found a few websites on how to make Nigerian Chapman but the
day I wanted to make mine, I dug deeper and found this website
that is wholly dedicated to this special Nigerian drink. The recipe for
Chapman on that website is so detailed that nobody will have any
problems making the drink.
So here, I'll show you how I made mine. I'll leave out a lot of the
details because I think the recipe has been done enough justice on the
website above.
Ingredients for Nigerian Chapman drink
The following are what I used for 2 classic dimpled mugs of chapman: 1 for me, one for hubby ;-)
½ cup Grenadine Syrup
A few dashes of Angostura Aromatic Bitters™
35 cl Fanta Orange
35 cl Sprite
½ an Orange
½ a lemon
Ice cubes
Optional Ingredient:
Ribena™ Blackcurrant
To garnish:
Fell free to add any citrus and other fruits of your choice:
cucumber, strawberry, orange, lemon, lime, even bananas. I used the
following:
½ an orange
½ a lemon
½ a cucumber
Notes on the Ingredients and alternatives
Grenadine Syrup gives the drink its classic red colour. You can
buy this at your local supermarket or on Amazon websites as listed
below. If you can't find Grenadine Syrup, you can use red currant
(extract the juice) or pomegranate but these don't give the drink the
same taste.
Ribena concentrated blackcurrant adds to the red colour and gives
the drink a sweetened taste but it is optional. Concentrated Ribena
blackcurrant is easily available in Nigeria and your local supermarkets
anywhere in the world.
You can make your ice cubes with a mixture of the Fanta and the
Sprite. This is so that your drink does not go flat as is the case when
the ice cubes are made with water.
Even though the Nigerian chapman contains a very small quantity
of alcohol, I know there are those who will like to make a version that
does not contain any trace of alcohol. If you want to make that, you can
skip the Angostura Bitters but I warn you, the Nigerian Chapman will
not be the same without Angostura Bitters. :)
Wondering other recipes you can use the remaining Angostura
Bitters for? You can use it in cookies, cakes, ice cream, salads and
other cocktail drinks. Or you can just keep it and use for Chapman, it
does not expire in a hurry.
You should be able to buy Angostura Bitters from all big food and
beverages shops in Nigeria, in your local super markets and on Amazon
websites.
Where to buy the tools and ingredients you will need to make a chapman:
Make the ice cubes either with water or a mixture of the fanta and the sprite.
Make sure the Grenadine Syrup, Fanta and Sprite are chilling in the fridge.
Cut the orange and the lemon into two equal parts each then cut
one half of each into thin quarters. Reserve the other halves for
squeezing into the drink.
Directions for making the Chapman
Put a few ice cubes in the mugs.
Add half a cup of the Grenadine Syrup, this should be about one third of the dimpled mug.
Add a few dashes of Angostura Bitters (to your taste).
Add a squeeze of orange and lemon each.
Share the Fanta equally between the two mugs, do the same for the
Sprite. Remember to leave some space because the garnishings will take
up their own volume.
Add your sliced garnishings: cucumber, orange and lemons. This list goes on and on, some people even add bananas to theirs :)
Top off with Ribena blackcurrant if you have it.
Stir with the straws and it is ready for drinking!
Enjoy it on a warm sunny day or on any special occassion with any Nigerian snack.
The Nigerian Fried Rice must be the best
thing that happened to birthday parties, weddings, street parties,
picnics, special events and occassions.
It is so easy to prepare that you can even cook it every weekend in your own home. Eat the Nigerian Fried Rice recipe with Moi Moi, Nigerian Salad or Coleslaw and you will feel like you are in paradise island. Are you ready to go on the Nigerian fried rice cooking spree?
Ingredients
Rice - 3 cigar cups | 750g
Vegetable Oil
Chicken (whole chicken or chicken drumsticks)
Cow Liver (100g)
Plain Yellow Curry Powder – no chilli (1 tablespoon)
Note: I do not use woks because it is a lot of work taking care of
them. If the carbon steel is not rusting, the bamboo handles are coming
apart so I prefer my frying pans for fried rice :)
Before you cook the Fried Rice
Cut the vegetables
Wash all the vegetables to be used in cooking the fried rice. Scrape
and cut the carrots into tiny cubes. Cut the green beans into small
pieces of about 0.7cm long. Soak these 2 vegetables separately in hot
water for about 5 minutes and drain. Cut 1 bulb of onion. Set all these
aside.
Prepare the liver and chicken
Cook the cow liver till done and cut into tiny pieces. To save
time and energy, you can cook the liver with the chicken as I did in the
video below.
Cut the whole chicken into pieces and cook with the seasoning and
2 bulbs of onions (chopped). When done, grill in an oven or deepfry
with vegetable oil. This gives it a golden look which is more
presentable especially when you are entertaining guests. Read how to season and grill chicken for more details.
Cooking Directions
Parboil the rice using the method detailed in parboiling rice for cooking fried rice. Wash the parboiled rice and put in a sieve so all the water drains out.
Pour the chicken stock into a sieve to remove all traces of
onions, thyme etc used in cooking the chicken. Pour the stock into a pot
and set to boil. Once the water boils, add the parboiled rice. Also,
add 1 tablespoon of plain yellow curry powder, then add salt to taste.
The plain yellow curry powder is merely for colouring so should not
contain chilli.
The water level should be slightly less than the level of the
rice; at most it should be at the same level as the rice. This is to
ensure that all the water dries up by the time the rice is cooked. Stir
the contents; cover the pot and leave to cook on medium heat. This way
the rice does not burn before the water dries up.
Once the water has dried up, check that the rice is cooked.
Perfect fried rice is one that the grains are separated from one
another, resistant to the bite but not hard.
Now, transfer the rice to a casserole dish or another pot to help
cool it down quickly. This is essential to keep the grains from
sticking to each other. If left in the original hot pot, the rice will
continue to cook and eventually stick together.
At this point, it is advisable to divide the vegetables into say 4, 5 or
even 6 equal parts. The rice will be fried in batches so this number
depends on the quantity of rice you can comfortably fry in the pan or
pot. Also, divide the cooked rice and the diced cow liver into the same
number of equal parts.
Now pour a small amount of vegetable oil into a frying pan. This
quantity of oil should be such that it would be absorbed by 1 part of
the cooked rice and 1 part each of the vegetables. When the oil is hot,
add 1 part of diced onions and stir for 10 seconds, followed by 1 part
of diced cow liver, one part each of the diced vegetables, then 1 part
of cooked rice.
Add more salt if necessary. More curry powder may also be added
at this stage if you need to touch up on the colour. Stir till all the
ingredients have mixed well and transfer to a dry pot. Repeat this for
the remaining batches of the ingredients.
The fried rice is ready. Serve with fried chicken. You can add coleslaw, Moi Moi or Nigerian salad. VERY IMPORTANT:
Nigerian Fried Rice can go bad very quickly. You can avoid this by
spreading it to cool it then refrigerate immediately. Otherwise, eat it
once you finish preparing it. If you want to serve it at a party, please
cook it very close to the serving time, if not, it will go bad! If
refrigerated, it can last for 48 hours without loosing its taste.
Pictured Recipe: 
