Amala (Yam flour) served with Gbegiri and Ewedu soup, and stew

Amala can be eaten with a variety of soups, two of the most popular among the Yoruba’s are ‘Gbegiri’ and 'Ewedu' soup. The ‘Gbegiri’ is prepared with brown beans, which is peeled and cooked until extremely soft. This can take about an hour or more. Add water intermittently, ensuring that it is always at the same level with the beans. This enables the right amount of water in the soup when the beans is done. Blend the soft beans, and filter with a sieve. Pour the beans into a pot and bring to boil, add smoked fish (if desired), salt, pepper, crayfish, stock cube and palm oil. Cover the pot and cook at low heat until the oil changes from red to yellow. The ‘Ewedu’ soup is prepared with ‘Ewedu’ leaves, hand picked and washed. A cooking pot is placed on a lit burner, water is added into the pot and heated to boiling point. The ‘Ewedu’ leaves are added with potash to make it tender. Then it is mashed with a cooking broom for about five minutes or less. Add ground crayfish, fermented locust beans ‘Iru’, maggi, salt and pepper to taste. Allow to simmer for 2 minutes or less. To prepare the stew, ingredients include tomatoes, red bell peppers ‘Tatashe’, onions, ginger and garlic (if desired), seasonings, scotch bonnet peppers ‘ata rodo’, oil and cow meat. Boil the cow meat in a cooking pot with water and seasonings. The tomatoes, onions and peppers are blended and boiled until it is dried into a thick paste. Place cooking pot on fire with oil, when heated, add chopped onions, grated garlic and ginger. Add the blended paste and fry. Add the broth from the protein, add seasonings, then add the protein and simmer.