This post entails everything you need to know about swallow foods in Nigeria. Out of ten Nigerians, about six will choose swallow as their favorite food. This shows how loved and popular it is in Nigeria. I don’t think any civilization can take it away from them.
One of the most popular meals in Nigeria is swallowed food. It is not just popular, every tribe in the country has its own specified swallow food which makes it the widely accepted food in Nigeria.
Nigerian swallows are generally referred to as local meals that are eaten by swallowing though not wholly, it’s taken portion by portion. It’s a complimentary meal which means it must always go with something.
It is almost impossible to find someone that is munching a bowl of swallowed food without soup. Unless… Swallows can be served either with stew, soup, or sauces. Out of the three, soup is the most common and is usually eaten with different kinds of soups peculiar to that particular tribe.
Another amazing part of swallow foods is that it’s mostly taken at dinner. Of course, they can be eaten for breakfast and lunch but typical Nigerians will prefer to eat them at night. More like a tradition passed down generation to generation.
So this swallows food, where are they gotten from?.
Swallow foods are made from popular staple foods like cassava, wheat, plantain, corn (maize), cocoyam, etc.
How does one eat and swallow food?.
Basically, you don’t chew them, some do though. you pinch a portion, dip it into your soup and swallow.
What are the types of swallows we have in Nigeria?.
There are many swallow food in Nigeria but the basic and most popular ones are listed below:
Eba
The image above is that of eba and ewedu soup (a popular Yoruba soup), I have clearly stated that they are all served with soups. The ingredients used to prepare it is gotten from cassava called “Garri”.
This is unarguably the most popular swallow in Nigeria because it is easy to make and also generally affordable. It is made from cassava. In just twenty-four hours, you could make garri out of cassava and within minutes, you could make eba out of garri. So easy and simple to prepare. A good reason it is the most popular among swallows.
Amala
It is gotten from either yam or cassava flour and it can be served with Nigerian soups such as ogbono soup, ewedu, egusi, efo riro. It comes in two forms, black, and white.
It is mostly eaten by the Yorubas. Amala is indeed a delicacy in Yorubaland.
Fufu
This is also made from cassava but takes a little more time. If you have tubers of cassava and know all the processes involved, you could have fufu in just 4 days. Other names for fufu include loi loi, Akpu, Santana, etc. ‘FUFU” is the Yoruba name for it. Preparing it too is a little harder compared to Eba or any other swallows. It goes with any type of soup.
Wheat
This is the easiest to prepare among them all. It is gotten from corn. To prepare it, what you need is dried wheat. Once it is ground, it takes just about 10 minutes to prepare. You can serve it with any of the Nigerian soups, what you find above is wheat and vegetable soup.
Pounded Yam
Pounded yam is simply boiled then pounded yam. Yam is properly cooked and pounded with a mortar and pestle to give pounded yam. You do not want to pound some newly harvested yams since it won't give you the right consistency. You can also make this from yam flour. There are different brands of yam flour e.g poundo
Tuwo shinkafa
Tuwo shinkafa is gotten from rice. This swallow is very popular in the Nothern part of Nigeria. You boil rice until it gets really soft, then you stir until it attains consistency. mold into rice balls and serve with any Nigerian soup.
It can also be prepared in another way: grounding dried rice and cooking. It is mostly eaten with ogbona and ewedu due to top the fact that it’s a very soft and watery swallow so other types of soup can’t go with it.
Like I said earlier, there are different types of swallowed foods but I just shared the most common ones. Lastly, another amazing part of swallow foods is that no party is complete without them.
Lets us know how you enjoy your swallow right in the comment section😊
Written by Basirat Fasasi
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