Amala with Ewedu and Gbegiri

Ingredients

• •Yam flour
• •Jute leaves (ewedu)
• •Locust beans
• •Brown beans
• •Palm oil
• •Onion
• •Dried shrimp (crayfish)
• •Beef
• •Dried fish (stockfish)
• •Scotch bonnet pepper

Steps

1. 1Boil water in a pot, then gradually whisk in yam flour, stirring vigorously and continuously to prevent lumps from forming, until the mixture turns into a smooth, stretchy, dark brown dough called amala.
2. 2Cover and keep the amala warm while preparing the soups.
3. 3Blanch fresh jute leaves briefly, then blend or chop them very finely, and simmer them with a little locust bean paste, ground dried shrimp, and chopped onion until the mixture becomes thick and slightly slimy, forming ewedu soup.
4. 4In a separate pot, boil peeled brown beans until completely soft, then blend or mash them smooth with some of their cooking water.
5. 5Simmer the blended beans with palm oil, ground dried shrimp, chopped onion, and pieces of cooked beef and dried fish to make a rich gbegiri soup.
6. 6Blend scotch bonnet pepper with onion and tomato, then fry the mixture in palm oil until it thickens into a spicy stew.
7. 7Combine the gbegiri and the pepper stew together in one pot just before serving, so their flavors meld while keeping the ewedu separate.
8. 8Mold the warm amala into smooth, rounded portions using a wooden spoon or paddle.
9. 9Serve the amala in a bowl surrounded by the ewedu and combined gbegiri stew, ready to be scooped together in each bite without chewing, as amala is traditionally swallowed.