Asaro II (Yam Porridge)

Asaro II (Yam Porridge) is a traditional Nigerian recipe for a classic accompaniment of boiled yam and plantain cooked in a chilli-based sauce with onion, ground prawns and smoked fish flavoured with curry powder, afang leaves and bitter leaves. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Nigerian version of: Yam Porridge (Asaro II).

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

25 minutes

Total Time:

45 minutes

Serves:

Rating:

Tags : Curry Chilli Recipes Spice Recipes Vegetable Recipes Nigeria Recipes

Ingredients:

1kg yam, peeled and cubed
2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
2 tsp palm oil
1 tsp salt
8 Habanero chillies
1 onion, chopped
10g ground crayfish (or ground, dried, prawns)
1 small smoked fish, broken into pieces and washed in hot water (remove as many bones as you can)
1 slightly ripe plantain, peeled and dice
2 tbsp afang leaves, minced (or 1/4 tsp ground ashanti pepper)

12 sprigs of bitterleaf (or 12 dandelion leaves and 6 spinach leaves)
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp curry powder

Method:

Combine the onion and crayfish in a blender and blitz until thoroughly combined. Pulse the chillies in a blender to chop finely and set aside.

Add the cubed yam to a large pot, our over 1.5l of water, bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes, or until done. Drain the water, add the yam pieces back to the pan and add 500ml water then add 1 tsp black pepper, palm oil, salt and chopped chillies. Bring the contents of the pan to a boil then stir in the onion and crayfish blend.

Add the pieces of smoked fish then cover and boil rapidly for 3 minutes before adding the plantain dice and the afang leaves (or Ashanti pepper). Stir to combine then re-cover the pot. Continue boiling for 5 minutes then reduce to a simmer and stir in the bitterleaf.

Remove the lid and continue cooking until the mixture has thickened to the consistency of porridge. Serve hot as an accompaniment.