Top 10 Easy Nigerian Food Recipes: Best Naija Dishes And How To Cook Them

Top 10 Easy Nigerian Food Recipes: Best Naija Dishes And How To Cook Them

Nigeria is one of the countries in Africa blessed with a large population of people from different religions, ethnic groups and tribes. Due to these diverse tribes, the dishes eaten within the country come in their numbers. Below are some very common Nigeria dishes and easy Nigerian recipes and how they are made.

How To Cook Nigerian Jollof Rice

Jollof rice is one of the ways in which rice can be made. Jollof rice is a popular recipe for just about every occasion in Nigeria.

The ingredients required are as follows: 3 cups of rice, vegetable oil, salt, pepper, ground tomatoes, seasoning/ stock cubes, meat stock, onions, curry, thyme, ginger and garlic.

Preparation

The first step would be to wash and parboil your rice to get rid of as much starch as possible. Then rinse, strain and set aside. Blend the onions, ginger and garlic. Set these ingredients aside.

In a pot put in about 2 cooking spoons of vegetable oil and put in your blended onion, ginger and garlic. The heat applied should be low at this point.

Add your ground tomatoes and pepper and stir. For this amount of rice it should be around three to four cooking spoons of ground fresh tomatoes and pepper.

Add the meat stock, salt, curry, thyme and seasoning cubes to taste. Allow this boil on very low heat for about 10-15 minutes.

Pour in about two cups of water, adjust your heat from low to medium and cover the pot until it all boils. Then add in your rice and stir it in with a wooden spoon, to reduce burning before the rice gets cooked.

As you cook, gradually add more water if need be, until the rice softens. Cooking time for this quantity should take between 25-30 minutes.

Serve your jollof rice alongside peppered meat, fried meat, fish, or whatever protein of your choice and you are ready to dig in.

How To Cook Nigerian White Rice And Tomato Stew

White rice and tomato sauce or stew as it is popularly referred to in Nigeria is a common meal eaten at just about any time of the day.

The ingredients required for this is as follows: 3 cups of rice, 2 cups of fresh tomatoes, onions and pepper (these three are ground together) vegetable oil, salt, half kilo of meat, (chicken or beef), meat stock, seasoning cubes.

Preparation

In a pot, put in 3 cups of rice and about four cups of water. Allow this to boil for about 15-20 minutes. Rinse your rice to get rid of starch and strain.

Put about two cups of water into a pot and put on the stove. When the water boils, pour in the parboiled rice and add about one teaspoon of salt.

Gradually add in water as needed until your rice is soft and properly cooked. This amount of rice should take about 30 minutes or less to be fully cooked.

Allow the water to completely dry out before taking it off the stove. Watch the amount of water you pour into your rice.

Procedure For Making Tomato Stew

Wash your meat, properly season and put on the fire to cook. When it is well cooked, drain the meat stock and set aside the meat.

In a medium sized pot, pour in some vegetable oil and let it heat up for a bit then pour in 2 cups of ground tomato, onions and pepper.

Stir this mixture and allow it fry for a bit, add in the meat stock, salt, seasoning cubes to taste and finally your boiled meat. Add in a little bit of water if need be.

Allow this to cook under medium heat for about 10 minutes. Reduce your heat to low and let it simmer for another 5 minutes then turn off the heat.

Your rice and stew is ready and can be served and eaten together.

How To Make Egusi Soup And Eba

The ingredients required for Egusi soup and Eba are as follows: 2 cups of garri, egusi/melon (ground), ugwu leaves, stockfish, dry fish, and half a kilo of beef, palm oil, Crayfish, dry pepper, salt, stock cubes, onions, ginger and garlic.

Preparation

Wash and soak your dry fish and stock fish in hot water for 45 minutes to an hour. When they soften, de-bone, divide into smaller sizes then set them both aside. Also properly wash and slice the vegetables (ugwu leaves). Grind your crayfish and pepper if need be then blend the ginger, garlic and onions.

Wash, season and boil your meat until it is well cooked, strain and set the meat and meat stock aside. In a bowl put in your egusi and then add a little bit of water and mix it. It should be an averagely thick mix.

Set a pot on the stove and pour in about three cooking spoons of palm oil. You could pour in more or less depending on the quantity of your egusi and your palm oil intake.

When the oil heats up and melts, pour in your egusi mix and then add in the blended onions, ginger and garlic. Stir this mix at intervals for about 5-10 minutes. Gradually pour in your meat stock as you stir-fry. Add water as well, if needed.

Add in your stock fish, dry fish, meat, seasoning and salt as required, crayfish and dry pepper to taste. Also put in your vegetables at this point. Stir until it blends in, cover the pot and allow it cook for another 10-15 minutes under controlled heat.

Constantly check stir and add small amounts of water when needed throughout your cooking.

For your eba, put about two cups of water into a kettle and boil. When this water boils, pour it into a bowl then evenly sprinkle in your garri until it absorbs all the water.

Cover your bowl and leave to sit for a couple of minutes to set. Then take a wooden spoon, gently and gradually turn and fold the mixture until it smoothens out.

Serve in a plate along with your prepared egusi. Eba and Egusi go very well together.

How To Make Fried Rice

Fried rice is a well favored food in Nigeria although many people mostly prepare it during special occasions. This is because of the delicate nature of this food. The ingredients required for fried rice include: 3 cups of rice, meat stock, vegetable oil, onions, green pepper, green peas, green beans, carrots, thyme, seasoning cubes, salt and curry, cow liver and fresh grated red pepper.

Preparation

Wash and chop your green beans, green pepper, carrots and onions. Wash, season and boil your cow liver. When it is cooked, chop the cow liver into cubes.

Wash your rice with salt several times and strain. Put a medium sized pot on the stove and put in about 2 cooking spoons of vegetable oil, then pour in the strained rice.

Take a cooking spoon and begin stirring your rice and oil under very controlled heat. Fry your raw rice until it becomes very elastic and chewy in nature. It should be stirred non-stop for about 8-10 minutes. This process ensures your fried rice comes out with each grain standing out as it should be.

Add in your meat stock, then curry and onions and gentle mix it in. Add salt, thyme, seasoning cubes, green pepper and grated fresh red pepper to your taste.

Add water as required. But do this in little quantities at a time. Fried rice could easily get over cooked so be careful with the way you add water.

When your rice is about 10-15 minutes away from being cooked, add carrot, green beans, green peas and cow liver to your rice and spread it out gently. Some people would rather add these from the very beginning. It all depends on what you prefer.

As you cook your fried rice, taste it and add extra ingredients if necessary. When it is ready, it should be stirred and taken off the stove.

Fried rice can be served with fried meat or chicken, salad, moi-moi and any other addition of your choice.

How To Make Asaro: Porridge Yam

Asaro is the Yoruba name for yam porridge. The ingredients required are: Yam, onions, dry pepper, palm oil, Cray fish (ground), dry fish, vegetable (ugwu), salt and stock cubes.

Preparation

Cut and peel about five to six slices of yam then wash and chop into big cubes. Properly wash and debone your dry fish. Wash and slice your vegetables and set aside.

Put the yam into a pot and add in some water. Add in the desired amount of salt, seasoning cubes, crayfish, a medium sized onion, palm oil and dry pepper. Put in your dry fish as well.

The cooking time for this quantity of yam is about 20-30 minutes. Gradually add in little amounts of water until it is cooked.

When your porridge is soft and is almost done cooking, add your vegetables and mash your yam a little bit. Reduce the heat and let it cook for a few minutes. Stir your porridge and turn off the heat.

How To Make Adalu: Porridge Beans

Adalu is a Yoruba name for beans and corn porridge. This meal is quite a treat and worth a try. The ingredients required include: 3 cups of beans (black eyed), 2 cups of corn, onions, palm oil, salt, dry pepper or blended fresh pepper, Cray fish (ground) and seasoning cubes.

Preparation

In a pot, put in three cups of cleaned beans and add some water. The water should be about an inch or two above the level of beans. Allow to boil for about 15 minutes.

After about 15 minutes, drain the water and rinse your beans. Kind of like the way you parboil rice. This process helps get rid of harmful chemicals contained in the beans.

Put your beans back in the pot along with the 2 cups of corn. Cut in one sizeable onion. Add water as required until it is well cooked. The timing should be about an hour and a half or less.

After this time, the beans should have softened considerably and the water should be almost all dried out of the beans. Then add salt, seasoning cubes, palm oil and pepper to taste then stir it all.

Reduce your heat and let this stay on the fire for another 5-8 minutes. Stir again and turn off the heat. Your beans porridge is ready.

What Is Nigeria’s Favorite Food?

Rice is arguably the most favored food amongst Nigerians. It is eaten almost on a daily basis by basically all Nigerians. It can be prepared as white rice which is accompanied by tomato sauce. It is cooked as jollof rice, coconut rice, fried rice etc.

What Should I Make For Dinner In Nigeria Tonight?

Dinner in most Nigerian homes hardly follows the world ethics of what dinner should be or how light it should be. They are quite a number of options, some of which include: white rice and stew or jollof rice, beans porridge, plantain and tomato or egg sauce, yam and egg sauce, yam porridge, spaghetti etc. You could as well go for the likes of eba, semovita, wheat and such, along with your desired soup.

If you are watching your weight, heavy foods will do injustice to your body. Try to cut heavy eating especially anytime after 7pm.