Eba

Ingredients

Swallow

• 250 ggarri, yellow or white
• 500 mlboiling water

To serve

• egusi soup
• okra soup
• ogbono
• pepper soup

Directions

1. Boil the water and take it off the heat.
2. Pour the garri into the hot water in a steady stream, sprinkling it across the surface rather than tipping it in all at once.
3. Let it sit for 30 seconds to a minute without touching it, so the granules swell and take up the water evenly.
4. That pause is the difference between smooth eba and lumpy eba. Stirring immediately traps dry pockets inside wet clumps that never break down.
5. Now stir with a wooden spoon or a turning stick, pressing the mass against the side of the pot and folding it over on itself.
6. Keep working it for 3 to 4 minutes, until it is smooth, stiff and glossy with no dry specks left in it.
7. Add a splash more hot water if it is too stiff, or a little more garri if it is too soft, working each addition in fully before you judge it again.
8. Yellow garri is fried with palm oil and is richer and softer; white garri is plainer and stiffer. Both are correct and it is entirely a matter of household preference.
9. Turn it out onto a plate and shape it into a smooth mound with wet hands or a wet bowl.
10. Serve hot with soup. It is eaten with the fingers: pinched off, dipped, and swallowed rather than chewed.

Technique

• Garri is toasted fermented cassava granules, bought ready-made, and it spread through Nigeria in the twentieth century as cassava overtook yam as the cheap staple.
• It stiffens as it cools, so make it slightly softer than you want to eat it.
• The same garri soaked in cold water with sugar and peanuts is drunk as garri soakings, which is an entirely different thing.

Substitutions

• Fufu flour, semolina or pounded yam, all of which are made the same way and eaten with the same soups.
• White garri if you find yellow too rich.

Variations

• Made softer for children and the elderly.
• With a little palm oil worked in, which some households do.
• Rolled into individual balls and wrapped, as it is sold at buka canteens.

History

Made from garri, the toasted cassava granules that spread through Nigeria in the twentieth century as cassava overtook yam as a cheap staple.

Frequently asked questions

What is Eba?

Eba is a main from Nigeria: garri swallow stirred from toasted cassava with hot water. Made from garri, the toasted cassava granules that spread through Nigeria in the twentieth century as cassava overtook yam as a cheap staple.

How long does Eba take to make?

Eba takes 2 min of preparation and 8 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Eba?

Yes, within limits. Fufu flour, semolina or pounded yam, all of which are made the same way and eaten with the same soups. White garri if you find yellow too rich.

What is the most important thing to get right in Eba?

Pour the garri into the hot water in a steady stream, sprinkling it across the surface rather than tipping it in all at once.