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Granulated cassava(garri)

Granulated cassava mostly known as garri is a carbohydrate giving food gotten from cassava tubers after series of procedures, all thanks to nature, Nigeria has been richly blessed with cassava and it is the largest producer of cassava in the world.

Of course, we all know that cassava processing involves harvesting, grating, sieving, and frying. But we will be following a step- by-step guide on how to process cassava to garri.

Steps on how to process cassava to garri

• First and foremost, we have to harvest the cassava from the site on which it was planted.

• After harvesting, the cassava roots have to be peeled.

• The cassava tubers has to be washed thoroughly to make sure there are no remains of sand or dirts on them.

• We all know that cassava roots are weighty in nature, therefore it is not advisable to grate or grind them using home grinder. We can look around our localities for traditional/local grinding mills and we can be sure to have a well grinded cassava mash.

Ferment the cassava mash:cassava fermentation is a strategy which improves nutritional value, enriches protein and reduces toxic and anti-nutritional compounds. Therefore, it is necessary to ferment the cassava mash. Since it is garri we are talking about here, it does not necessarily mean that it should be kept for a long time. The cassava mash could be left for about 2-3 hours to ferment.

• The next step is to press the cassava sack to drain the water. This is necessary as the garri needs to be dry before frying, local grinding facilities render such services. Infact, we can do this particular one in our homes by putting heavy metals on the cassava sack after it must have been put in small quantities into the sack.

• After draining the garri mash, we sieve the semi-dried cake into grits, at this stage it is ready for frying.

• Fry or roast the sieved grits to bring about your edible garri.

• After frying, we allow it to cool by spreading the garri in a thin layer

• We can then seive or grind the garri a second time to break larger granules or particles. This particular step is optional that is why we are advised to start on a low heat temperature to avoid forming large particles

• Wow..... Our garri is ready, so it is left for you to pack the garri in airtight bags to increase it's durability and shelf life. Store in a cool and dry place.

Above, are the steps to a successful garri procession from its raw stage to the final stage. Garri could be made into a paste like semovita or any known swallow and enjoyed with a palatable plate of egusi soup. It could also be soaked in chill water with honey and milk and enjoyed in it's liquid form

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