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Abacha Ncha (Dried Cassava with Garden Eggs)

Abacha Ncha (Dried Cassava with Garden Eggs) is a traditional Nigerian recipe (from the Igbo peoples) for a classic accompaniment or dish of a palm oil, cow skin, dried fish and fermented oil beans flavoured with chillies and thickened with shredded and dried cassava or tapioca. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Nigerian version of: Dried Cassava with Garden Eggs (Abacha Ncha).

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

70 minutes

Total Time:

90 minutes

Serves:

4

Rating: 4.5 star rating

Tags : Chilli RecipesVegetable RecipesNigeria Recipes

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This is another Igbo classic. Abacha represent strips of grated and dried cassava (one of the few ways of preserving cassava for future use). I have seen tapioca used instead of cassava to make this, but proper abacha is better. This can be used as an accompaniment, a meal in itself or served as a snack with beer. It is also often considered as a 'salad'.

Ingredients:

250ml red palm oil
6 garden eggs (round yellow-green aubergines), chopped
400g abacha (shredded and dried cassava)
10 small pieces of stockfish (dried fish), soaked, spiced and cooked by boiling
10 pieces of ponmo (cow skin), washed, seasoned with spices and cooked
100g ugba (fermented oil beans), sliced into strips
1 tbsp uziza leaves (Guinea pepper leaves), finely chopped (optional, or substitute any spicy leaf eg cress, mustard greens)
1/4 tsp akaun (potash,potassium carbonate) [you can substitute baking powder]
1 Maggi cube (or any stock cube)
2 hot chillies, pounded to a paste
2 tbsp ground crayfish (dried and ground prawns)
salt, to taste

Method:

Season the stockfish and cow skin to your liking, place in a pot of water, bring to a boil and cook for about 40 to 50 minutes, or until tender.

In the meantime, wash the abacha, place in a bowl, cover with water and set aside to soak for 15 minutes. Drain, return to a the bowl then pour over boiling water to cover. Immediately drain in a colander and set aside to finish draining for 15 minutes.

Dissolve the potash in about 60ml warm water. Mix with the palm oil and turn into a pan. Heat the mixture then stir in the pounded chillies, ground crayfish and seasonings. Stir to mix thoroughly then add the stockfish, cow skin, ugba and the garden eggs.

Bring to a simmer then add the abacha and mix thoroughly to combine. Simmer until thickened and cooked through then season to taste with salt before turning onto a serving dish. Garnish with the uziza leaves and serve.