I will start by saying anyone can cook but they are those that perform magic in the kitchen. What do I mean? They are those that understood what should be added and not be added in a food to come out tasty and healthy. Our favorite chef in my family is my sister, our food magician.
Like my dad would always call her adanneya which means” the daughter that knows the father's heart.” And truly, she didn’t only capture my dad’s heart but ours too.
My sister cooks a lot of food but she loves preparing Local food very well cause there are medicinal in nature like: fio fio(Pigeon pea porridge), Akidi, Ukwa (breastfruit)etc. But the one I enjoy most is the “Okpa”which we take with pap or you can wash it down with coke.
Okpa is known as Bambara nut in English but it comes with different names like: Bambara bean, Bambara groundnut, condo goober, Earth pea etc. And scientifically known as Vigna Subterranes.
Okpa nuts are incredibly nutrients-dense loaded with a lots of vitamins and minerals.
She always prepare this especially in the morning as a family breakfast occasionally, the flavor that comes out of the kitchen early in the morning coupled with her humming is enough to wake you up.
Okpa (Bambara nuts) is simply prepared with few ingredients like:
Okpa flour (any measure you can use)
Palm oil
Fresh pepper
Uziza seed
Salt to taste.
The process is simple, easy and healthy. It doesn’t take time especially the cooking part. And you have to cook it for long to avoid running stomach. Not everyone can cook Okpa and not every ingredients is needed to make it delicious. It is naturally delicious, no need of adding any other things like Maggi, crayfish etc. But some do, which is how they love it but traditionally, it should be prepared in this way.
Steps in preparing Okpa.
If you have the flour, you can sift inside a big bowl but if not grinded you can take it to the place for them to do so.
- First, my sister would boil hot water in a big pot with measured quantity depending on the quantity and quality she is cooking. She would pound the fresh pepper and uziza seed in a mortal and set aside.
- She would take small quantity of the hot water from the pot and mixed with cold water to make it warm and pour it little by little to the okpa flour in the big bowl and turn it gradually to it become sticky to her hand.
- Then, when she is done turning it, she will pour the palm oil and mix it very well which comes out like this picture below.
She would add the pounded fresh pepper and uziza seed and salt to taste. She would scooped the mixture into a nylon and tie it very well with rope to avoid loosing in the pot.
I love the part on how she would place them inside a boiling pot with care and bring the long rope on the mouth of okpa for easy access. We would happily wait for like an hour+ depending on the quantity we are cooking but she knows when it is ready to be set down and dish out for us to eat and they always come out soft and tasty.
Wow! Sister’s magic for her family! She always got us smiling and we love her food so much. Lucky, we are!
