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Vegetable egusi soup
Melon seed soup
Ground melon-seed soup cooked into soft curds with palm oil, peppers and bitter leaf or spinach
Egusi soup is cooked right across Nigeria, from Igbo kitchens in Enugu to Yoruba homes in Abeokuta, and it is the soup most people mean when they say 'swallow and soup'. Ground egusi (the protein-rich seeds of a wild melon) is fried and simmered in a pepper and palm-oil base until it forms soft, savoury curds, then finished with greens. It is eaten by hand with pounded yam, eba or fufu. The usual meats, stockfish and crayfish are left out here; mushrooms, iru and vegetable stock do the work. Chef's tip: let the egusi paste sit in the hot sauce without stirring for 5 minutes so it sets into fluffy curds before you break it up.
- Total time
- 60 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 1 onionhalf blended into the egusi, half finely chopped
- 1 red bell pepperdeseeded
- 1 scotch bonnet chillistalk removed
- ¼ cup red palm oil
- 1 tbsp iru (fermented locust beans) (optional)rinsed
- 7 oz mushroomssliced
- 2 ½ cups vegetable stock
- 7 oz washed bitter leaf, ugu leaves or spinachchopped
- 1 tsp saltor to taste
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What you'll need
Spices & pantry
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Mix 7 oz ground egusi (melon seeds) with half of ½ onion (grated or blended) and 6–8 tbsp water to a thick, spreadable paste.
Step 2: Blend 1 red bell pepper and 1 scotch bonnet chilli to a coarse purée.
Step 3: Heat ¼ cup red palm oil in a pot over a medium heat until it thins. Fry the chopped remaining ½ onion with 1 tbsp iru (fermented locust beans) if using until soft.
3 minStep 4: Add the pepper purée and fry, stirring, until it darkens and the oil floats.
8 minStep 5: Drop the egusi paste into the pot in tablespoon lumps. Leave it alone over a medium-low heat until the lumps turn pale and set, then turn them gently.
6 minStep 6: Add 7 oz mushrooms and 2 ½ cups vegetable stock. Cover and simmer over a low heat, stirring now and then, until the egusi has broken into soft curds and the oil rises again to the top. A common mistake is cooking it too briefly: undercooked egusi tastes raw and grainy.
20 minStep 7: Stir in 7 oz washed bitter leaf, ugu leaves or spinach and 1 tsp salt and simmer until the leaves have wilted but are still green. The soup should be thick enough to coat a spoon.
5 minStep 8: Serve hot with pounded yam, eba or fufu.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 430 kcal
- Protein
- 17 g
- Carbs
- 11 g
- Fat
- 37 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does vegetable egusi soup take?
- About 60 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 45 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of mushrooms?
- Aubergine, diced, same weight.
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