Nigerian grocery shopping in the UK: a beginner’s guide

Start with the "swallows"

Nigerian main meals are often built around a soup or stew eaten with a "swallow" — a smooth, soft dough that you pinch off by hand, use to scoop up the soup, and swallow rather than chew. If you buy only one category of food on your first shop, make it one of these.

Garri is the most versatile. It is dried, fermented and roasted cassava, sold as coarse granules. Stirred into boiling water it becomes eba, and soaked in cold water with sugar and groundnuts it becomes a quick snack. Ijebu garri, from the south-west, is fine, white and slightly sour; yellow garri has palm oil added during processing and tastes milder. Africa King Ijebu Gari is a good place to start, and our eba recipe shows the method.

Poundo yam flour makes pounded yam — iyan — without a mortar and pestle. It is the swallow many families save for weekends and celebrations. Olu Olu Poundo Iyan and Africa King Pounded Iyan both cook in about ten minutes; see how to make pounded yam.

You will also see semolina, semovita, amala flour (made from dried yam and dark brown when cooked) and fufu flour. Each has its loyal fans. Buy one or two to begin with and add others once you know which soups you like.

Red palm oil — the flavour of the south

Red palm oil is unrefined oil pressed from the fruit of the oil palm. It is deep orange-red, has a distinctive earthy flavour, and is the base of many soups and stews from southern Nigeria, including egusi, efo riro, banga soup and ofe nsala. It is also used in "native" jollof and in yellow garri.

It is not the same as the refined palm oil found in processed foods, and it is not interchangeable with vegetable oil in every recipe — a stew made with palm oil tastes noticeably different. Banga Red Palm Oil comes in a four-litre bottle, which sounds like a lot until you realise how many dishes use it.

Palm oil turns partly solid when it is cold. That is normal and does not mean it has gone off; see our storage guide for how to handle it.

Rice, noodles and everyday quick meals

Long-grain parboiled rice is the rice most Nigerian cooks use for jollof and fried rice, because it stays separate and holds the sauce without turning to mush. Any large supermarket sells it. Our jollof rice recipe and party jollof recipe are written around it.

Instant noodles are a genuine Nigerian staple, not a student afterthought. Indomie in particular is cooked as a full meal with onions, peppers and egg — our Nigerian Indomie recipe shows how. A box of 40 Indomie chicken flavour is how most households buy them.

For breakfast, many Nigerian homes rely on a cereal, a tin of evaporated or powdered milk and a chocolate malt drink. The Nigerian Breakfast Starter brings the three together.

Seasonings and flavour builders

A small number of seasonings do most of the work in Nigerian cooking. Stock cubes are used in almost everything savoury. Curry powder and dried thyme are the two dried herbs and spices found in nearly every pot of jollof and stew. Ground crayfish — dried, smoked crayfish ground to a powder — adds a deep, savoury, slightly smoky flavour to soups and stews. Scotch bonnet peppers (ata rodo) bring the heat, and red bell peppers (tatashe) bring colour and sweetness.

Further in, you will meet iru (fermented locust beans, strongly aromatic and used in Yoruba soups), ogiri, uziza seed, ehuru (calabash nutmeg), suya spice and alligator pepper. None of these is essential on a first shop. Add them as you cook particular dishes that call for them. Our Nigerian food glossary explains each one.

Soups need their own ingredients

Most Nigerian soups are named after the ingredient that thickens or defines them. Egusi soup is thickened with ground melon seeds. Ogbono soup uses ground ogbono (wild mango) seeds, which give it a characteristic stretchy, slippery texture. Okra soup is thickened with chopped okra. Efo riro is a rich spinach stew. Banga soup is made from palm nut concentrate.

When you decide which soup you want to cook first, write down its specific ingredients rather than buying everything at once. Leafy vegetables in particular — ugu (fluted pumpkin leaves), bitter leaf, waterleaf — are often sold frozen or dried in the UK, and many cooks substitute spinach or kale.

Stockfish (dried cod, called okporoko) and dried fish are used in many soups for flavour. They are very hard and need soaking before use; many people buy them already cut into pieces.

How much to buy at once

Nigerian staples are usually sold in household sizes: garri and poundo in 4kg bags, palm oil in litre or multi-litre bottles, noodles in boxes of 40. That is because they keep well and families use them constantly. If you are cooking for one or two, a 4kg bag of garri is still sensible — it keeps for months when stored properly.

If you want several staples at once, a bundle saves making separate decisions. The West African Pantry Starter includes garri, poundo yam flour, red palm oil and Indomie. The Nigerian Pantry Plus adds ground crayfish. The Ijebu Garri & Poundo Essentials covers the two most common swallows.

Fresh produce is the exception. Fresh yam, plantain and peppers do not keep for long, so buy those for the week rather than the month. A 10kg box of fresh yam tubers is for households that boil or pound yam often.

Reading the packaging

Imported African groceries sold in the UK must carry their ingredients, allergens and net quantity in English. Some packs carry a UK importer sticker over the original label — that sticker is where the legally required information is. Always check the allergen statement on the pack you actually receive, because recipes and suppliers change.

Our allergen information page lists the statement for every grocery product we sell, taken from the pack. If something you need to know is not there, email us before you order and we will check.

Look at the best-before date on dry goods, and note that "best before" is about quality rather than safety. Flours and garri that have passed their best before date may taste flat or stale rather than become unsafe — but if there is any sign of damp, mould, insects or an off smell, throw it away.

Spellings vary. Garri and gari are the same thing. So are akee and ackee, semo and semolina, poundo and pounded yam flour. Search for both spellings when you shop.

Drinks and snacks

Malt drinks are popular across West Africa and are a fixture at parties. Malta Guinness is one of the best known; it is sweet, dark and non-alcoholic.

Plantain chips are the most common snack. Olu Olu plantain chips come in boxes of 24 packs. Chin chin (small fried dough pieces), puff puff and roasted groundnuts are also everywhere.

A first shopping list

If you want a short list to start with, this will cook eba with a simple stew, jollof rice and Nigerian-style noodles: a bag of garri, a bag of poundo yam flour, red palm oil, long-grain parboiled rice, a box of instant noodles, stock cubes, curry powder, dried thyme, tomato paste, onions, tinned or fresh tomatoes, red peppers and scotch bonnets. Add ground crayfish if you plan to cook soups.

From there, choose one soup a week to learn and add its specific ingredients. Within a couple of months you will have a cupboard that can cook most everyday Nigerian food.

Questions

What should I buy first for Nigerian cooking?

A swallow such as garri or poundo yam flour, red palm oil, long-grain parboiled rice, stock cubes, curry powder, dried thyme, tomato paste and fresh peppers. That covers eba, simple stews and jollof rice.

Is garri the same as gari?

Yes. They are two spellings of the same food: dried, fermented and roasted cassava granules.

Can I use spinach instead of Nigerian leafy vegetables?

Yes. Spinach is the most common substitute for ugu and other leaves in UK kitchens, especially in efo riro and egusi. The flavour is milder but the dish works.