Nigerian food glossary: ingredients and dishes explained

Swallows and starches

Garri (also gari): dried, fermented and roasted cassava granules. Eaten as eba, or soaked in cold water with sugar, milk and groundnuts. See Africa King Ijebu Gari.

Ijebu garri: a fine, white, slightly sour garri associated with the Ijebu area of south-west Nigeria. Popular for soaking.

Yellow garri: garri processed with red palm oil, which gives it its colour and a milder flavour.

Eba: the dough made by stirring garri into boiling water. One of the most common swallows. See our eba recipe.

Swallow: any soft dough — eba, pounded yam, amala, fufu, semo — eaten by hand with soup and swallowed rather than chewed.

Iyan (pounded yam): boiled yam pounded in a mortar until smooth and stretchy. Today often made from poundo yam flour. See our pounded yam recipe.

Poundo yam: a yam flour that is cooked with hot water to make pounded yam. See Olu Olu Poundo Iyan and Africa King Pounded Iyan.

Amala: a swallow made from elubo, a flour of dried yam (or sometimes cassava or plantain). It is brown to dark brown when cooked and is closely associated with Yoruba cooking.

Elubo: the dried yam flour used to make amala.

Fufu (also akpu): a swallow made from fermented cassava, with a soft texture and a sour smell. Fufu flour is also sold.

Semo, semovita: swallows made from semolina-based flours.

Ofada rice: a short, unpolished local Nigerian rice with a strong aroma, often served with ayamase (ofada stew).

Yam: in Nigerian cooking, the large starchy tuber (not the sweet potato sometimes called yam in the US). Boiled, fried, roasted or pounded. See our fresh yam tubers.

Plantain: a large, starchy member of the banana family, cooked rather than eaten raw. Fried ripe plantain is dodo.

Soups and stews

Egusi: ground melon seeds, and the thick, rich soup made from them with leafy vegetables, palm oil and meat or fish.

Ogbono: ground seeds of the wild mango (also called African mango or bush mango). Ogbono soup has a distinctive stretchy, slippery texture.

Okra soup (also okro): soup thickened with chopped or grated okra, often cooked with palm oil and seafood.

Efo riro: a Yoruba spinach or leafy vegetable stew, rich with peppers, palm oil, iru and meat or fish.

Banga soup (also ofe akwu): soup made from palm nut concentrate, associated with the Niger Delta and the Igbo south-east. Not the same thing as red palm oil, though both come from the oil palm.

Ofe nsala (white soup): an Igbo pepper soup thickened with yam, made without palm oil.

Edikang ikong: a rich Efik and Ibibio vegetable soup from the south-south, made with ugu and waterleaf.

Afang: an Efik and Ibibio soup made with afang leaves and waterleaf.

Pepper soup: a light, spicy, aromatic broth with goat, chicken or fish, seasoned with pepper soup spice.

Ayamase (ofada stew, designer stew): a stew of green peppers, locust beans and assorted meats, cooked in bleached palm oil and served with ofada rice.

Obe ata / buka stew: the red pepper and tomato stew cooked in oil that underpins much everyday Nigerian food.

Rice and everyday dishes

Jollof rice: rice cooked in a reduced pepper and tomato base until every grain is coloured. See our jollof rice recipe.

Party jollof: jollof cooked in a large pot, often over firewood, with a smoky flavour from the bottom of the pot. See our party jollof recipe.

Fried rice: Nigerian fried rice, cooked with curry powder, vegetables and liver or other meat; usually served alongside jollof at parties.

Moi moi (also moin moin): a steamed pudding of blended peeled beans, peppers and onions, often with egg or fish inside.

Akara: deep-fried bean fritters made from the same peeled bean batter as moi moi. A common breakfast.

Ewa agoyin: soft mashed beans served with a dark, spicy pepper sauce.

Dodo: fried ripe plantain.

Boli: roasted plantain, often eaten with groundnuts.

Suya: thinly sliced beef or other meat, coated in suya spice and grilled on skewers. Sold as street food.

Nkwobi: an Igbo dish of cow foot in a spiced palm oil sauce.

Indomie: a brand of instant noodles so common in Nigeria that the name is used for instant noodles generally. See our Nigerian Indomie recipe and the box of 40.

Oils, seasonings and spices

Red palm oil: unrefined oil pressed from palm fruit, deep orange-red and earthy in flavour. The base of many southern Nigerian dishes. See Banga Red Palm Oil.

Bleached palm oil: palm oil heated until it loses its red colour, used in ayamase. It is done carefully in a well-ventilated space because the oil smokes heavily.

Stock cubes: used in almost every savoury Nigerian dish. Several brands are so common that their names are used for stock cubes generally.

Crayfish: small dried, smoked crayfish, usually ground to a powder and added to soups and stews for a deep, smoky, savoury flavour.

Iru (also dawadawa): fermented locust beans with a strong, pungent aroma. Used in Yoruba soups such as efo riro, and across West Africa.

Ogiri: a fermented seed paste with a powerful smell, used in Igbo soups.

Uziza: a peppery plant whose seeds and leaves are used in Igbo soups and pepper soup.

Ehuru (calabash nutmeg): an aromatic seed, roasted and ground, used in pepper soup and ofe nsala.

Uda (grains of Selim): smoky, aromatic dried pods used in pepper soup.

Alligator pepper (atare): pungent, peppery seeds in a dried pod. Used in cooking and in traditional ceremonies.

Pepper soup spice: a blend of local spices such as uda, ehuru and alligator pepper, sold ready-mixed.

Suya spice (yaji): a ground mix of groundnut powder, chilli and spices used for suya.

Ata rodo: scotch bonnet pepper. The main source of heat in Nigerian cooking.

Tatashe: red bell pepper, used for colour and sweetness in stews and jollof.

Shombo: long red chilli peppers, used for colour and moderate heat.

Curry powder and dried thyme: the two dried seasonings found in almost every pot of jollof and stew.

Leaves and vegetables

Ugu: fluted pumpkin leaves, used in egusi, edikang ikong and many other soups. Often sold frozen in the UK.

Bitter leaf (onugbu): a leaf with a pronounced bitter taste, washed thoroughly before use in bitter leaf soup and egusi.

Waterleaf: a soft leafy vegetable used in edikang ikong and afang soups.

Scent leaf (efirin, nchanwu): an aromatic basil-like leaf used in pepper soup and stews.

Utazi: a bitter, aromatic leaf used in small amounts, notably in nkwobi and ofe nsala.

Garden egg: a small, round, white or green aubergine eaten raw as a snack or cooked into a sauce.

Spinach: the most common UK substitute for Nigerian leafy vegetables.

Fish and meat

Stockfish (okporoko): air-dried cod, very hard, soaked before use in soups for its strong flavour.

Dried fish: smoked and dried fish, often catfish, used to flavour soups.

Assorted meat: a mix of cuts and offal — tripe, cow skin, liver and more — common in soups and party dishes.

Ponmo (kpomo): cow skin, cleaned and cooked until soft, used in stews and soups.

Shaki: tripe.

Snacks, breakfast and drinks

Chin chin: small, crunchy fried dough pieces. A party and festive snack.

Puff puff: soft, sweet fried dough balls.

Plantain chips: thin slices of plantain fried until crisp. See Olu Olu plantain chips.

Ogi, pap, akamu: a fermented cereal pudding made from maize, millet or sorghum, eaten for breakfast with akara or moi moi.

Custard: in Nigeria, custard powder cooked into a thick breakfast porridge, often eaten with akara. See Checkers banana custard powder.

Malt drink: a sweet, dark, non-alcoholic drink made from malted barley. See Malta Guinness.

Zobo: a deep red drink made from dried hibiscus flowers, often spiced with ginger and cloves.

Kunu: a drink made from millet, sorghum or other grains, popular in northern Nigeria.

Chapman: a fruit punch made with soft drinks, cucumber and citrus, popular at parties and restaurants.

Where to start

If this list feels like a lot, start with the essentials: garri or poundo yam flour, red palm oil, rice, stock cubes, curry powder and thyme. Our beginner’s shopping guide explains what to buy first, and our storage guide explains how to keep it. The West African Pantry Starter brings four of the staples together in one order.

Questions

What is a swallow in Nigerian food?

A soft dough such as eba, pounded yam, amala or fufu, eaten by hand with soup. You pinch off a piece, use it to scoop the soup, and swallow it rather than chew.

What is the difference between iyan and amala?

Iyan (pounded yam) is made from boiled yam, or poundo yam flour, and is white and stretchy. Amala is made from elubo, a flour of dried yam, and is brown when cooked.

What is iru?

Fermented locust beans with a strong aroma, used to season Yoruba soups such as efo riro. It is also called dawadawa in parts of West Africa.