Hi all, I know these past few months have been hell on earth. I noticed that most of our recipes in the Southern and Western part of Nigeria requires soup as a compliment. I will be giving out few tips to save money and create long lasting and tasty soups.
1) Dried red bell pepper: Dried tatashe/ can perform wonders when you want a soup that you can keep adding water. It primary function is to thicken the soup. You can make a difference to your pot of soup or stew with a few dried pepper. Simply soak in hot water for 30 mins to 1 hr till it softens and add it to the rest of the ingredients, blend together, use as usual. I don’t have a recipe at hand however it would go like this:
-a couple of tomato puree sachets like 2 or 3 sachets
-10 dried red bell pepper
-2 onions
-Dried Chili Pepper
-other spices like garlic
-oil
Prepare your stew as usual
Soya cheese: it is a great substitute for expensive proteins. The downside is the energy and time it requires to peel, boil, cook and/or fry to finally get those meat-like substitutes.
http://www.9jafoodie.com/wara-tofu/
-Instead of lime juice, you can get fermented/sour water from people who make ogi/pap/cornmeal. You can get it for free or buy from them cheaply. You need the same quantity as the soya milk to curdle. Just add it to the milk while it is boiling and wait for it to curdle.
Dried Chili Pepper or Sonbo: it is funny how most people often continue to use scotch bonnet pepper (Pepper) over dried chili pepper during hard times. If you want to make small and cheaper sauce for rice, yam, beans. Simply soak your dried chili pepper in hot water till it softens or soak overnight, add enough onions, ginger, garlic and other spices to douse the spiciness, fry as usual. If you do not really like hot sauce, please omit the ginger. You can use these combo to eat your rice, beans and yam.
Egg stew: the good thing about egg stew is that you do not need lots of eggs to create a substitute for Fried eggs. You still have the protein and pepper. You can use any pepper mix to create a perfect egg stew.
-Blend your pepper with onion, fry, you do not want a thick consistency if you are trying to make more.
-Season well
-Add your beaten eggs
-Continue to mix until it has solidifes
Lafun, cornmeal(tuwo) and wheat: these are morsel foods that you can substitute for Amala/eat/Semo/poundo yam and occasionally garri. Did I hear poor man's foods? I beg to disagree. Food is food. If it tastes great and is filling, then you don't have to justify it. The cheaper process that takes to make them does not mean they are inferior to other foods of the same category.
Beans soup(Gbegiri): it is a perfect and healthy substitute for soups that accompany morsels. Peel your beans, boil with onions till it softens, mash it and sieve (if you have a blender, just blend the beans with the rest of the ingredients or you could blend the beans and add it to the Pepper mix).
http://www.allnigerianrecipes.com/soups/gbegiri-soup.html
Okro/ogbono soup: this is the time to learn to make okro soup. You do not need tomato or Pepper mix to make a great soup. You can make a tasty okro soup with dried pepper and palm oil.
http://www.allnigerianrecipes.com/soups/okra-okro-soup.html
Banga soup (palm fruit): This soup is commonly prepared in SS and SE parts of Nigeria. Palm fruit extracts make up up the bulk of the soup. It is a great alternative to proper egusi soup or vegetable soups.
http://www.allnigerianrecipes.com/soups/banga-soup.html`
Melon soup: this type of melon soup is different. I believe it originates from Ijebu. It is not like the popular version of melon soup. The amazing thing about this soup is that you can eat it with rice and your morsels. You blend your dried melon with onions, scotch bonnet pepper or dried chili pepper, adding red bell pepper or dried red bell pepper is optional. Usually it contains more water, so you can add more water until you achieve the consistency you desire.
http://dooneyskitchen.com/egusi-ijebu-authentic-version/
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