Ukwa is an African food, especially Nigeria and mostly eaten by the Igbos, the processing is very difficult and stressful, it requires time and patience, from the washing and grinding, then peeling and selecting of the chaffs, its really stressful to clean but it is a very healthy meal. Some say it contains protein while others say it contains fibre, but all the same ukwa is a very healthy meal, and it is advisable you take it.
This is one of my favourite Nigerian dishes but please I like my ukwa plain. How do people who add so much in their Ukwa, eat it? so that night I decided to make ukwa and my sister said I should add palm oil, pepper, and salt in my ukwa, I couldn’t help but question her, why should I put all that in my food when I can simply just eat it without mixing all those extra things?
Obviously, I felt some type of way, I couldn’t even imagine the taste and look, I just asked her, if we were cooking beans and that she should make her ukwa separately I can’t see myself eating her combo. We didn’t make it together.
The point is, a lot of people prefer porridge, and different people with their different methods of preparing this African delicacy. My mum would eat her porridge with abacha sometimes. I love abacha but I will let it pass just to eat my ukwa plain.
This post is going to teach you, how to make your porridge, I know that a lot of people like this porridge but do not know how to prepare this meal. This article is written to make it easy for you. All you have to do is follow the steps accordingly and use the right ingredients as listed.
Ingredients for making Ukwa.
- 3 cups Ukwa
- 1 cup Corn
- 5 medium sized Liver
- 5 medium sized stock fish(flesh)
- 1 teaspoonful ogiri
- 2 handfuls Ugba(shredded)
- 2 cubes knorr seasoning
- 1 medium sized onion
- 1 tablespoonful Crayfish(grounded)
- 1 medium sized Green pepper
- 1 medium sized yellow pepper
- 2 medium sized red bonnet pepper
- 1 small tin tomato cup palm oil
- salt to taste
- 3 tablespoonful Natural potash
- Water
Before making Ukwa
these are the steps you have t take before cooking; like I said early it is difficult to process.
- Pick stones from the Ukwa, then wash with water thoroughly and set aside
- Boil corn till tender and set aside
- Slice green, yellow and red bonnet pepper and set aside
- Grate, blend or pound onion
- Grind crayfish
- Cook the liver with little water and salt for 5 minutes, then chop.
- Put the Natural potash or Ntu ngu into an empty bowl, add 150ml of water, work your finger into the mixture to mix very well, leave to settle, when you notice the water is colourless like normal water, take the water and dispose the base that looks like sand.
- Take 70 ml of potash water
How to cook Ukwa
These are the steps you have to take before preparing this delicious African meal.
1. Put the washed ukwa in an empty pot
2. Add the 70ml of natural potash water and a cup of ordinary water, then cook for 40minutes
3. Add the stock fish flesh also known as flex, allow to cook for 10 minutes
4. Add the corn, if you notice water is drying up, add water little by little,allow to cook 10 minutes
5. Add the Ogiri
6. Set a dry pot on fire,add the palm oil,allow to heat for a minute,add blended onion and grounded crayfish and stir continuously for 2 minutes
7. Pour the palm oil content into the pot of ukwa still on fire,stir and leave for 3 minutes
8. Add the liver
9. Add Knorr seasoning cube
10. Add salt to taste
11. Add the Shredded oil bean or Ugba
