Eba and egusi soup recipe

May 2024 · 3 minute read

“Ifeyinwa and I grew up eating this – it’s one of our childhood favourite dishes. It’s a popular dish from the family of ‘soups and swallows’ which are a real staple in Nigerian households. Swallows are made from powdered or grated tubers, such as yam or cassava, which are soaked in water and kneaded into a dough. Called Òkèlè in Yoruba, at Chuku’s we describe them as dumplings. In the restaurant, to show off all the vibrant colours of the ingredients, we present the soup deconstructed (pictured). The method here is how my sister and I would eat it at home growing up.”

Prep time: 20 minutes | Cooking time: 1 hour 50 minutes

SERVES 

Two, generously

INGREDIENTS

For the goat

For the egusi soup

For the eba

METHOD

  • Start by cooking the goat. Dice the meat and place in a large pan with the onion, garlic and scotch bonnets. Add the goat bones, stock cubes and black pepper and cover with water.
  • Bring to the boil and then let it simmer on a medium heat for 1 hour – or until the meat is tender. Top up the water, if needs be.
  • Reduce the stock until almost all the liquid has evaporated, so the meat soaks up the maximum flavour. Once cooked, remove the bones and set the meat aside.
  • For the soup, puree the red pepper in a blender with the scotch bonnets and 125ml of water.
  • Fry the onion in a large saucepan, with four tablespoons of the palm oil and four tablespoons of the vegetable oil for 3-5 minutes, until the onion is translucent.
  • Add the ground egusi, mix well and then stir in the red pepper and scotch bonnet blend. Cook for 5 minutes on medium heat.
  • Then add 375ml water and leave to simmer for another 25 minutes until the egusi has a ‘crumbly’ appearance. Stir frequently whilst cooking to stop it sticking to the bottom of the saucepan.
  • Stir in the stock cubes, salt, crayfish and the remaining oil. Toss in the cooked goat meat and cook for a further 5 minutes.
  • Start preparing the eba once the egusi soup is almost ready. Heat 300ml water to boiling point in a large pan then gradually stir in the gari until it combines to make a stiff dough. Set aside to cool for 2-3 minutes. Then with wet hands, mould the dough into two dumplings each about the size of a tennis ball.
  • Finally – wash your hands, roll up your sleeves and enjoy breaking off eba and dipping it into your homemade egusi soup.
  • Emeka’s recipe is taken from the Community Comfort e-cookbook, a collection of recipes from 100 British cooks from migrant backgrounds to raise funds for the bereaved healthcare colleagues and families of Black, Asian & Ethnic minority victims of Covid-19. To download it, go to tezetapress.com

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