How to Make Banga Soup

Hello People,

Hope y'all are doing great.
This post shows how I make my Banga Soup. Banga soup is a popular soup of  the people of Delta State, Nigeria particularly people from the Urhobo tribe. It is made from boiled Palm Kernel nuts, which are then beat in a mortar in order to extract the palm juice.
Married to an Urhobo man, I had to familiarize myself with their dishes, and learn how to make them too. My hubs was sweet enough to teach me how to make it, and yes he beat the palm kernel nuts by himself that day, it was a funny site *hahahahaha, I was so surprised he could do it. Funny enough, when I finally made the Banga Soup, my sister in-law came home, ate it and was like, "who thought you?", when I said it was my hubs, she couldn't believe cos growing up, he disliked kitchen duties. She gave me some "banga soup tips" that I have added to my cooking over time.
Ofe Akwu (ibo banga stew) is similar in preparation to Banga (Urhobo Amiedi) soup but they taste differently. Ofe Akwu is cooked using uziza or scent leaves, while Banga is cooked with dried banga leaves (obeletientien) and this is used sparingly. Also, Ofe Akwu is lighter in consistency and eaten most often with rice unlike Banga soup that's thicker and eaten with Starch, Eba, Pounded yam and other varieties of swallow.

Banga Soup served in Native/Clay Pot (Evwere)
 

The typical Urhobo person will prefer to eat Banga soup in this Native pot (Evwere) as this gives the soup a unique taste, you know how some people prefer eating Jollof Rice cooked with firewood than those cooked using a gas cooker, the difference is always clear.
This clay pot can be found in Naija markets, ask traders who deal on local spices.

Here are the Ingredients used.

- 1.5kg of Palm Kernel Nuts *(mixed:native and agric)
- Banga soup mixed spices (you can buy the diff spices separately then pound to make your own mix)
- Banga leaves (Obeletientien)
- 2.5kg of Meat (Cow tail)
- Stock fish
- Dry fish
- 2 Cksps of ground crayfish
- 3 Tbsp of ground chili pepper
- 2 Stock cubes
- Salt to taste

Directions:
1. Wash, season and boil meat and set aside.
2. Wash palm kernels thoroughly (with plenty of water) to get rid of sand and dirts. Pour into a pot, add water to cover the nuts and boil for 20-25mins or till the flesh is soft

2. In a clean mortar, pour in the boiled kernels in batches and beat till the skin goes off (be careful not to crack the kernel.)

 

 

 3. Pour in 3 litres of hot water into the mortar containing the "beat" kernels. This is done to extract the "juice" from the palm nuts. Stir properly to ensure you get all the juice.

 

 

4. Strain the liquid into a pot and set on high heat to cook down the liquid. After about 20 mins, the liquid begins to thicken.

 

5. Add the mixed spice, don't add so much, I used 1 teaspoon of spice for this quantity, adding too much will make the soup taste bitter. Add all other ingredients including the boiled cowleg, stock fish and dry fish, stir properly. Simmer for about 8-10 mins, then turn off heat

Serve hot with starch, eba or any other swallow of choice.

Kitchen Tips:
*Do not close the pot while boiling the banga liquid as this will cause spills on your cooker
*I used both native and agric palm nuts. Native palm nuts are smaller in size and have a better taste but do not produce enough liquid unlike the agric ones that are bigger, contain more liquid but do not taste as good.

Regards,

Nitie

*Always wash your hands before and after handling food items.