10 Popular Meals / Food Types in Nigeria and Western Africa
Are you planning a trip to Nigeria or in Nigeria and looking for something to do this weekend?? One fun idea or activity you have to include in your itinerary without a doubt is to try out the food. As a multi-ethnic country, Nigeria is a fertile ground for fabulously delicious delicacies. From the east, west, north, and south to virtually every corner in-between the country, there are a plethora of spice-rich flavourful dishes that tie Nigerians together–I suggest you try as many of them as you can. To make it easy for you, here’s a selection of 20 popular Nigerian food to get you started on this journey of tastes. Join us as we explore the deliciousness that abides in this great giant of Africa!
1. Jollof Rice.
The first on our list would be the all too popular jollof rice. There are just too many jollof rice recipes out there but we think this takes the cake. They basically take the same process; the difference could be simply the addition of vegetables/fruits, the use of chicken instead of fish, choice of spice, etc. Jollof rice can be fixed during the rush hour, in less than 60 minutes. If you have most of the required ingredients stashed away in the freezer, you can do it too.
There is nothing really special with this, slice some carrot, green pepper, red pepper, green beans and add them just three minutes before you turn off the heat.
2. White Rice and tomato stew.
These sure look delicious, most Nigerian homes make the simpler version of this food; the only difference with that and this is just the addition of carrot/green beans. We believe the addition of these vegetables does not only make your food look inviting, but it also makes it healthy too.
Just boil your white rice the usual way, add the sliced carrot/green beans just 3 minutes before you turn off the heat.
3. Egusi Soup and Eba.
The third on our list would be egusi soup and eba, or fufu (as in the case of the dish above). This is one of the popular Nigerian dishes, this soup is well received in Nigeria, it is mostly served alongside eba (prepared garri), fufu or semo.
4. Edikaikong Soup.
The fourth on our list of popular Nigerian dishes would be the all too popular edikaikong soup. Edikaikong is native to the efiks and made with two of the most popular vegetables in Nigeria (water leaves and fluted pumpkin leaves). We love this soup exactly the way it is served here – with well-prepared wheat; it can also go with eba, fufu, or semo.
5. Fried Rice.
Fried rice is one of the most outstanding Nigerian rice meals, it’s like the best of Nigerian dishes, everybody loves fried rice. However, the recipe is not as simple as that of jollof rice or tomato stew, there is a learning curve, but once you are able to master the process, it becomes pretty much as easy as most Nigerian recipes.
6. Pepper Soup
Pepper soup is one of the well known Nigerian dishes, it is actually the only soup that is consumed without pairing with other foods. You can, however, chose to pair with white boiled yam or rice.
7. Porridge Yam.
Number seven on our list of popular Nigerian dishes would be porridge yam. This meal can turn out really delicious if you know what you are really doing. If you want to enjoy this meal, use yams that are older than 7 months, newly harvested yams are not just good for porridge yam.
8. Porridge Beans and Recipe.
The last one on this list would be… beans porridge? Well, Usually, it is porridge beans and plantain – all cooked, but in our case We decided to fry the plantain.
There are just about 5 different beans recipes that I know but this happens to take the cake. The average Nigerian person eats beans like once in a week, the exception being when you live in Ogun state and probably a copper, you will eat beans and bread every morning.
9. Garri
Garri would pass as the king in the land of Nigerian dishes, as it is a household food in almost all Nigerian homes. There is a popular joke in Nigeria that, though Garri has no advert placement, yet, it sells more than other food products that advertise.
Garri is prepared from cassava tubers that have been fermented, but the tubers must undergo peeling, washing and grating into a mash prior to being fermented. The product gotten from this is then locally dried (roasted) to form fine flour.
Garri when mixed with hot water, becomes ‘Eba’, and can be served with almost all kinds of stews and soups. It can also be eaten with beans or as a snack.
10. Efo Riro
Efo Riro is a mix of pumpkin green leaves, meat, like chicken and offal or smoked fish. Efo Riro is a Yoruba delicacy originating from Western Nigeria. Green vegetables like water leaves or pumpkin leaves are used in preparing the stew, spinach, can also be added to the ingredients.
We really think there are hundreds of other delicious Nigerian dishes that would make this list. So I would like to read your thought. What do you think? Which is your favorite Nigerian dish? Tell us about it.
Sources:- Afro Tourism and All Nigerian Foods
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