How To Prepare Egusi Soup

Egusi soup is a tasty meal made from dry Melon seeds. It has its origin among The Yorubas of south-western Nigeria. Today, it is considered a national delicacy prepared throughout the country and beyond.

Ingredients

1 cup dry egusi (melon) seeds (ground).
1/2 cup palm oil.
1 handful of washed bitter leaf.
4 medium-sized scotch bonnets.
chili pepper(ground).
2 medium-size onions.
Chicken, Beef, or Fish. ( you can use meat or fish or both).
Salt.
2 cubes of seasoning.

Optional ingredients

1 small tomato
1/3 ground crayfish
Bitter leaves can be replaced with sliced fluted pumpkin leaves.

Preparation

Place the ground melon seeds in a bowl and soak with water. Don't add too much water, you only want the water to soak through, not for the egusi to become watery. While you are doing this, break apart any mold that might have formed as a result of the egusi and water coming together. This will leave it feeling smooth and less likely to form lumps while cooking.
Place the scotch bonnets, onion, and tomato in a blender and blend. If you need to add water, add as little as possible because you will need to dry it out later.
Cut one onion into fine bits.
Wash the bitter leaves. You can buy already washed bitter leaves from the market or you can .
Cook your meat with salt, onion and 1 seasoning cube. Once cooked, you can use the meat or fry with palm oil or vegetable oil.
If what you have is fresh fish, fry with palm oil before using. If you are using dry fish, there is no need to fry.

Cooking directions.

Place a dry pot on the fire and add palm oil. Set the stove to mid-low heat.
Once the oil heats up enough, add your chopped onion.
Allow to fry until light brown and add the blended tomato and pepper. Stir well and leave to fry until all the water has evaporated. Before this happens, you need to stir at intervals.
Add your soaked egusi and mix thoroughly. Continue to stir for a few minutes, until well incorporated and you get this caramel-like aroma.
If you are using meat, add the meat stock. If the soup is still too thick for you, add some water, cover your pot and increase to mid-high heat. Leave to boil for 10 to 15 minutes.
Add your meat, fish, crayfish, Salt, bitter leaves and cover for 10 minutes.
Add your seasoning cube, stir well and leave to boil for 5 to 7 minutes. Your egusi soup is ready!

Serving.

Serve and enjoy with eba, nshima, ugali, semo, amala etc.

You can also serve and mix egusi soup with before eating.

Note

Do not mix the entire pot with Ogbono soup. Only mix one serve.

Give both a try and see which you prefer.