Eba, Nigerian swallow (Fufu) made using hot water and cassava flakes. yes, flakes also known as garri. The mixture of garri and hot water gives eba. This is what we swallow with delicious Nigerian soups. How to make eba without lumps? This is
easy. When I saw the video of DJ cuppy making her eba in a boiling pot of water like amala. I liked it but wished there was a detailed post on how to make eba without lumps. Maybe that would have served as a guide.
To make eba without lumps is to know how to add the garri flour to hot water. Not boiling water sometimes. When water boils, it’s important to drop a little cold water in there before you start sprinkling in garri. That’s for some garri types o.
Watch this short video to see how I make eba for my family. You can watch on my YouTube Channel to enable you see similar videos.
Very hot water tends to cook the eba too fast and create lumps (depending on the garri used) even before we start stirring. Eba is very easy to make. When water is not hot enough, the eba tends to not properly bind. The hotness of the water helps it bind very well with the starch well cooked.
We make eba with one of yellow garri or the white garri sold at the market. Eba is very good to eat because the cassava is fermented during processing. The starch in eba is well fermented and cooking it with hot water also helps. Without hot water, it might not bind and you end up with drinking garri.
When I shared a post on how to make egusi balls in egusi and ogbono soup, I explained there with pictures on how to make eba but it wasn’t this detailed.
NOTE:
If you already can make eba with hot water and garri but the problem is how to fix lumps. Easy! When the eba is made and there are lumps, just sprinkle in some more garri while stirring. The raw garri will clear all the lumps as you stir with your turning stick.
TESTING TIME FOR EBA MAKING
Because we eat swallows a lot in my family. we shop garri in large quantities. For every sack of garri that comes to the kitchen, I have what I call the testing time. To help me know what works for that particular garri. The first and sometimes second time of
making eba from that batch of garri is my testing time. That first attempt helps me know if that particular garri will require very hot or mild water to make. Some garri types are better when made with boiling water. Some are better when you mix the water with some cold water. Some garri types need much water else the eba turns very hard when it’s cold. Some don’t need too much water and are lighter. Some are smoother in texture while some have more fiber and go very well with soups like ogbono soup and okra soup.
HOW TO MAKE EBA WITH NO LUMPS
These are easy steps on how to make eba without lumps. For a first-timer, I advise that you start with just about 2 glasses of water and see how it goes. With eba making, we learn as we go. No one is ever perfect because garri used in making eba is processed from different cassava species. Some are heavier than others when turned into swallows. Some are starchy some are not really. There are some eba I make and want to just continue buying garri from that same seller. Some type of garri can make you feel like a learner but you are not. It’s the fault of the garri type.
- Pour very hot water in a deep bowl.
- Start sprinkling garri into the hot water until it gets to the surface of the water. Do not cover the water completely so you don’t end up with rock hard eba.
- Leave for a few 2 to 3 minutes to help cook well and bind better.
How to make eba without lumps. The garri is mixed using a wooden spatula. - Stir with a turning stick, wooden spatula or spoon till everything is well mixed and if it’s too soft for you, you can sprinkle in some more garri while stirring.
- Feel and see that you are ok with the consistency. Too hard? You can add a little more water while stirring.
- Serve with some good Nigerian soups and enjoy.
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