Egusi Soup Kit

Description

A thick, nutty soup made from ground melon seeds simmered in palm oil and stock, with spinach or bitter leaf and your choice of meat or fish.

1 hr · Serves 6 · Medium

What’s in the kit

• 2 × Nina Ground Egusi (Melon Seeds)
• 1 × Jumbo Chicken Stock Cubes
• 1 × Golden Penny Semovita

The Family size has twice as much of everything, so it feeds twice as many.

You’ll also need

• 1 kg beef or goat, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup palm oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 scotch bonnets, blended
• 2 tbsp ground crayfish (optional)
• 300 g spinach or 1 cup washed bitter leaf
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Season the meat with one stock cube, half the onion and salt. Cook in a little water until tender, about 30 minutes, keeping the stock.
2. Mix the ground egusi with a little water into a thick paste.
3. Heat the palm oil gently, add the rest of the onion, then spoon in the egusi paste in small lumps. Fry for 5 minutes, turning, until it starts to curdle and turn golden.
4. Add the meat stock, blended pepper, crayfish and the second stock cube. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the oil rises.
5. Add the cooked meat and the greens. Simmer 5 minutes more and adjust the salt.
6. Serve hot with semovita, eba or pounded yam.

Cook’s tip: Frying the egusi paste in lumps before adding stock gives the soup its classic curds instead of a smooth sauce.

Photo: Bukky658, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.