Delicious Nigeria Egusi Soup

Egusi soup is a delicious and very popular Nigerian soup/stew thickened with ground Egusi (an African melon) seeds and enriched with assorted meat, vegetables fish and spices. Typical leaf vegetables for egusi soup include bitterleaf, celosia and spinach. Other typical vegetables include tomatoes and okra, with normal seasonings including chili peppers, onions, and iru (fermented beans). Typical meats include beef, goat, fish, shrimp, or crayfish and it is actually one of the most popular Nigerian soups used for eating with starches such as Pounded Yams, Eba, fufu and wheat meal.

In Nigeria, egusi is very popular among the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria, the Ibibio people and the Efik people (Calabar people) of Southern Nigeria, the Hausa of northern Nigeria and the Yoruba people, Edo people, Esan people, and Etsako people of the southwest of Nigeria. Yoruba people in general and quite notably the people of Ọṣun State – especially the Ijesha people – eat ‘Iyan and Egusi’, a pounded yam and egusi soup. It is also popular in other parts of west Africa and the cooking methods differs from place to place.

INGREDIENTS...
1.1 cup ground Egusi seed or use pumpkin
seeds

2.½ cup palm oil

¼ pound smoked trout, skin and bones
discarded and the meat flaked

½ pound beef stew meat, chopped into small dice

½ pound chicken thigh meat, chopped into small dice

2 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
½ tsp thyme leaves
1” piece of peeled ginger, minced
1 tsp curry powder
1 Maggi bouillon cube
2 bay leaves
1 scotch bonnet or habanero pepper, deseeded and minced
1 large tomato, mashed or blended
1 tsp tomato paste
Fresh ground black pepper
1 package of chopped frozen spinach
1 tbsp ground dried shrimp
½ tsp chili powder
Salt, to taste
Homemade unsalted chicken or beef stock.

THE PREPARATION/COOKING PROCESS

1. Set stove to medium heat. Add tomato, tomato paste, habanero, ginger, onion and garlic plus some stock to a blender and reduce to a paste. Rinse meat and put in a medium/large pot. Add all the seasonings, except egusi seed, spinach, trout and palm oil. Pour enough stock in pot so that it covers all the meat. Boil on medium heat for at least 1.5 – 2 hours.
2. Pierce meat with a knife to check for softness. If the knife goes through with little pressure, go to the next step or let it boil longer until tender.
3. Add palm oil to boiling meat. Let boil for 5-10 minutes.
4. Reduce heat to low. Add ground egusi and stir thoroughly.
5. Add the smoked trout and ground dried shrimp. Let boil for at least 20 minutes (it should thicken somewhat because of the egusi).
6. Stir and add in the chopped spinach. Let cook for 5 more minutes and turn off heat. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

When it’s ready, serve with pounded yam or mashed sweet potato.
This is one out of the assorted meals we have here in Nigeria.
Thank you for reading

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