Banga stew is a dish popular in the Eastern part of Nigeria. But this delicacy is similar to that of the Efiks and Deltans, the only difference is the inclusion of a special spice referred to as banga spices. This stew can be eaten with rice or yam but among the Deltans it is eaten with Starch (my favourite food), Eba, Fufu etc.
Banga stew is also referred to as Ofe akwu. Ofe (stew) akwu (palm fruit), enough of the talking let go the kitchen. But it important to state here, there is no rule that state what kind of assorted you can use or cannot use. So, you can decide to add to the recipe, depend on how rich you like your stew to be.
The following are ingredients needed for Banga Stew
- Ingredients
a. 400g canned Palm fruit pulp or 500g Palm Fruits
b. Fresh Mackerel fish(Titus fish)
c. 2 Handful shredded Scent leaves
d. 1 small onion bulb, finely chopped
e. 1 tablespoonful ground crayfish
f. 1 seasoning cube
g. Chili pepper or scotch bonnet( to your taste)
h. Salt to taste
i. Beef (as desired)
j. Dried fish(as desired)
k. Stock fish(as desired)
l. Beef stock (from the cooked meat)
Procedure For Making Banga Stew (Ofe Akwu)
Step One
Into a clean pot, add in your washed beef, stock fish, dried fish, and any other desired assorted. Add some salt, onion and stock cube to taste, add some water and allow to boil till it is done ensuring that your stock is not completely dried up.
So, you want to check the volume of water you are adding. When ready, drain stock and set aside.
Step Two
Wash your palm fruit very well. Put into a clean pot and pour in some water ensuring all palm fruits are submerged in the water.
Bring it to a boil for about 15 mins or till you notice some tearing on the palm fruit. Drain fruit, and put into a mortal and mash with a pestle, not so hard as you don’t want to break the nuts. An alternative way if you don’t have a mortal is to squeeze out the juice from the boiled fruits as shown in the image below:
After mashing for about 2-3 mins, add in some water(please be careful of the amount), then use your hand to squeeze, and with a flat plate park the mash palm fruit from the mortal sieve and drain the content into the pot you want what use, discarding the residue(palm shaft and seeds)
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Step Three
Allow the content from step two to boil, till the oil rises to the top, then you can start adding your boiled beef, stock fish, dried fish, and the mackerel, allow to boil for about 3 mins more, then add the beef stock and all other ingredients (salt, crayfish, seasoning and chopped onion).
Boil till you have achieved your desired thickness, but if in the cause of your palm fruit processing you added too much water, you can add some ‘Achi’ (a thickener) to the stew. Allow to boil for about 8 mins then add in your shredded scent leaf and leave to cook for 2 mins extra.
Please note, if you are using the canned palm pulp, procedure still remains the same, just pour the pulp into the pot and allow to boil till the oil comes on top, you could use your stock to lighten the thickness a bit.
Hurray! Our stew is ready. You can serve with rice or yam with a chilled bottle of drink… yummy.
That’s it in our Cookbook today, thanks for joining us! Have a blessed day!
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See also: Ogbono Soup: Health Benefits & Recipes
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