Purity's Kitchen

You will need

• abacha
• red oil
• onion
• crayfish
• chili pepper (ose kekere)
• ogiri
• ehuru
• Maggi
• salt

Method

1. Soak the abacha with either cold or warm water.
2. Fry the chili pepper, crayfish, and ehuru separately in an empty pot.
3. Slice the onions.
4. Heat red oil in a pot and fry the sliced onions for about two minutes.
5. Remove the pot from the heat to let the oil cool slightly.
6. Pound or blend the fried chili pepper together with the ehuru.
7. Add the chili pepper and ehuru mixture into the cooled oil and onion mixture.
8. Add ogiri to the mixture and stir everything together using a turning stick or clean hands.
9. Add Maggi (or seasoning of choice) and a little salt, then stir.
10. Drain the soaked abacha using a sieve.
11. Mix the drained abacha into the oil and seasoning mixture.
12. Add the fried crayfish by hand into the mixture and mix well.
13. Taste and add extra salt if necessary.

The way she does it

• Use cold water to soak abacha if you want it to rise more and not become too soft; using warm water can make it lose firmness.
• Purity prefers to fry the onions in the red oil rather than using them raw.
• Ensure your hands are very neat and washed before mixing with your hands.

You will need

• beans
• unripe plantain
• crayfish
• pepper
• seasoning
• salt
• onions
• red oil
• water

Method

1. Wash the beans and cook them in an empty pot for about fifteen minutes to parboil them.
2. Bring the beans down, wash them again to remove the first water, then put them back on the fire.
3. Continue cooking the beans, adding water little by little to help them brown and keep the seeds visible.
4. Cut the plantain into the desired shapes and set aside.
5. Blend the pepper and crayfish and set aside.
6. In an empty pot, put red oil on the fire, add sliced onions, and fry them a bit.
7. Add the blended pepper and crayfish to the onion and red oil, and stir for less than one minute.
8. Pour the beans into the pot, add extra water, cover, and cook for about fifteen minutes so the seasonings can enter the beans.
9. Add the plantain to the pot and cook everything together for about ten minutes until the plantain is done.
10. Use a turning stick to stir the beans and plantain before serving.

The way she does it

• Add water little by little so the seeds remain visible and the beans brown well.
• Always remove the first water after parboiling to avoid bloating or stomach upset.
• Use ripe plantain for a sweet taste.

You will need

• cocoyam
• bitter leaf vegetable
• uziza seed
• pepper
• crayfish
• ogiri
• meat
• stock fish
• dry fish
• water
• salt
• onion
• red oil

Method

1. Wash the meat, dry fish, and stock fish together in a pot with seasoning, salt, and onion (optional).
2. Cover the pot and steam for about ten minutes, then add extra water and set aside.
3. Wash cocoyam very well, cook it separately in a different pot, then peel off the back.
4. Pound or blend the cooked cocoyam into a smooth paste using a mortar or blender.
5. Wash the bitter leaf, put it in a pot, and steam for about five minutes.
6. Pour out the hot water from the bitter leaf, add cold water to it, and set aside.
7. Pound the crayfish, pepper, and uziza seed separately.
8. Bring the meat stock to a boil and add the cocoyam paste and red oil.
9. Allow to cook for about fifteen minutes to ensure the cocoyam dissolves completely and lumps are gone.
10. Add the blended crayfish, uziza seed, and pepper mixture into the cocoyam base.
11. Add seasoning and salt to taste, cover, and cook for five minutes.
12. Add the bitter leaf and cook for three minutes before removing from heat.

The way she does it

• Use uziza seed for essence in the soup.
• Wash cocoyam very well before cooking to avoid sand entering the soup.
• Steam the bitter leaf to ensure hygiene and manage bitterness.

You will need

• egg
• fresh tomatoes
• pepper
• seasoning
• onion
• oil
• salt

Method

1. Beat six to seven eggs and set aside.
2. Wash and slice fresh tomatoes and pepper, or crush the pepper slightly.
3. Heat oil in a pot and fry sliced onions for about two minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes and pepper to the onions and fry together for about ten minutes.
5. Add the beaten eggs to the pot but do not turn them immediately.
6. Cover the pot and allow the eggs to boil for about two minutes.
7. Turn the eggs to create lumps, then add seasoning and salt to taste.
8. Cover the pot and allow it to heat for three minutes before serving.

The way she does it

• Slice the tomatoes instead of blending them so you can see the particles and it doesn't look like tomato stew.
• Do not stir the eggs immediately after adding them to the tomatoes; letting them sit for two minutes helps create lumps.
• Do not add water if you prefer a thick sauce.

You will need

• egusi
• red oil
• pepper
• onion
• crayfish
• seasoning
• salt
• water
• ugu vegetable
• ogiri
• uziza seed
• stock

Method

1. Bring your stock together, wash them, and put them inside an empty pot.
2. Slice your onions, tear inside, tear your seasoning, cover the pot, and allow it to steam for about ten minutes.
3. Add water and allow it to boil for about ten minutes.
4. Grind the egusi and put it inside the boiling water/stock along with the red oil.
5. Cover the pot and allow it to boil for another ten minutes.
6. Grind the crayfish, the pepper, the uziza, and the ogiri together, then put it inside the pot.
7. Allow it to cook for about ten minutes.
8. Add salt to taste and check it.
9. Cover and cook for an extra five minutes.
10. Add the ugu vegetable last, then immediately turn down the fire so the vegetable does not wither away.

The way she does it

• When you are steaming, you don't add water.
• Vegetable should be the last thing to put there.
• Uziza seed gives it a very nice flavor.

You will need

• rice
• water
• salt
• fresh tomatoes
• tin tomatoes
• seasoning
• spices
• stock
• groundnut oil
• onion

Method

1. Boil the rice in water until it is parboiled, then drain the water and set it aside.
2. Blend the fresh tomatoes with onion.
3. Heat groundnut oil in a pot and fry the onions.
4. Add the blended fresh tomatoes and fry for about ten minutes.
5. Add the tin tomatoes and fry for an extra five to ten minutes.
6. Bring the stock to a boil, then pour it into the tomato mixture.
7. Add spices and seasoning, then cover the pot to boil.
8. Add the parboiled rice to the pot and stir.
9. Cover the pot and check after ten to fifteen minutes.
10. Once the water has dried, stir and remove from the fire.

The way she does it

• Fry the fresh tomatoes first to dry out the water and prevent a sour taste before adding the tin tomatoes.

You will need

• okra
• pepper
• onion
• uziza seed
• uziza leaf
• ogiri
• abaka
• oil bean
• water
• stock
• meat
• stock fish
• dry fish
• seasoning
• salt
• crayfish
• red oil

Method

1. Cut the okra into small pieces after washing and keep aside.
2. Grind the crayfish, pepper, uziza, and ogiri and keep aside.
3. Cut the uziza leaf and keep aside.
4. Put meat and stock fish in an empty pot, wash them, and put them inside the pot with onion, seasoning, and salt.
5. Cover the pot and steam for ten minutes.
6. Add extra water and allow it to boil for about five minutes.
7. Add the red oil.
8. Tie the blended crayfish, pepper, uziza seed, and ogiri inside the boiling water.
9. Tie the okra inside the pot, cover, and boil for about five minutes, then stir.
10. Add salt to taste and cover the pot to boil for an extra five minutes.
11. Tie the oil bean and the bruised uziza leaf inside, stir, and cook for three minutes before bringing it down.

The way she does it

• I don't like cooking with ugu, so I prefer using uziza leaf.
• That uziza leaf and the uziza seed gives it a very sweet flavor that is you will never forget the meal.
• That oil bean, ugba, majority don't know that you can use that ugba to cook okra soup.
• It helps to pump enough blood in the body.

You will need

• yam
• crayfish
• pepper
• ogiri
• scent leaf
• uziza seed
• dry fish
• red oil
• seasoning
• onion
• salt

Method

1. Cut the yam into small sizes and peel the back.
2. Wash the yam and put it in a clean pot to cook.
3. Blend the crayfish, pepper, and uziza seed together.
4. Cut onions into small shapes.
5. Add the blended mixture, onions, and red oil into the pot with the yam.
6. Add seasoning and ogiri.
7. Wash the dry fish very well to remove tiny sands and bones, separate the bones, and add the fish to the pot.
8. Let it cook on the fire for about twenty minutes until the yam is done.
9. Wash the scent leaf and slice it into small pieces.
10. Add the scent leaf into the pot and stir.
11. Check the salt and add more if needed.
12. Cover the pot and cook for an extra five minutes before serving.

The way she does it

• Use the black, round ogiri (some call it okpẹ́) to give the dish a delicious native flavor and taste.