How to make Abacha African (Abacha ncha with Ugba)

This is basically for ladies and 'guys' that are interested in learning how to cook better ;). Today, she discusses the African salad recipe!

So i woke up with a huge craving for Abacha and i decided to make it.....i really should learn to say no to these cravings sometimes. I've done a post on Abacha in the past with fried fish alone but this time, i decided to make a video instead especially for those who'd love to see first hand how it's done.

 For this recipe, i substituted fried fish for dry fish and pomo. I also used Ugba and garden egg in the preparation. Abacha ncha is a Nigerian delicacy indigenous to the igbo tribe. Just like most salads, It's mostly served as an appetizer to stimulate the appetite as the first course of the meal before the main course.

 It's usually garnished & served with utazi (a slightly bitter leaf), dry or fried fish, pomo, garden egg and raw onion rings.

How to make Abacha Ncha (African salad) with dry fish & kanda

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time:10 minutes
Category:   Salad recipes
Region:      Eastern Nigeria

Ingredients:::
• 2 cups Palm oil

• 1 Seasoning cube

• 1 teaspoon ground Ehu seeds (Calabash Nutmeg)

• 2 Dry Pepper, ground

• 1 tsp. Ogiri

• 1 tbsp. potash "Akaun"(powdered)

• 1 large sized Pomo / Kanda (cow hide)

• 4 Handfuls Abacha

• 1 wrap/cup Ugba (Ukpaka)

• 4 tbsp. Crayfish "ground" - Optional

To garnish


• Dry fish, Fried fish, or Pomo(As desired)

• 1 large Red Onion

• 4 Garden eggs

• 3 Utazi leaves (Gongronema latifolium)
Preparation:::

Step 1: Dissolve the potash in a small bowl of luke warm water. Stir well and set this aside.

Step 2: Place the dry Abacha in a medium sized bowl. Pour boiled water over the abacha in the bowl. Leave to soak in a bowl of water for about 20 mins. This helps soften as well as increase it's size. Once it's soft enough, leave to drain in a sieve

Step 3: For this, i'd be using kanda also known as pomo. If you buy from the local market, you need to clean it properly. To clean, get an iron sponge and scrub the inner part thoroughly With a sharp knife, scrape the outer part also then rinse. Cut it up into smaller pieces then place in a pot of water. Add salt to taste then leave to boil for about 10 mins. Drain off the water then set aside.

Step 4: Rinse the Ugba, Wash and chop the utazi leaves, Wash the garden eggs and chop if you like, Slice the onion rings.

Time to make the Abacha

Step 5: In a pot, pour in the palm oil. Add the potash mixture with a sieve making sure you don't pour in the residue along with it. Stir consistently till the palmoil and potash mixture turns into a yellow paste

Step 6: Add the salt to taste, crushed seasoning, Ogiri paste, ugba (ukpaka), dry pepper,pomo, Crayfish,ground ehu , then stir very well till the mixture is well incorporated.

Step 7: Finally, gently add the drained abacha into the mixture and mix thoroughly till it's well incorporated. At this point, the Abacha is ready to be garnished and served BUT.............

If you like your abacha warm as some people do, you can heat it up a little on a burner.
Step 8: Garnish with the sliced Utazi (Its quite bitter so i'd advice you use sparingly), Garden egg, Onion rings and Fish

Serve with a Cup of palm-wine for that breath taking feel ;)