How to Prepare Amala

Amala and Egusi soup wit red soup

Àmàlà was not one of my favourite foods growing up, in fact I hated it, I believed it was going to turn my skin tone charcoal, how shallow was I!? Well I once forced to eat and voila I've been eating it ever since even though it's never the first thing that comes to mind whenever I'm hungry. I like eating àmàlà with 'draw soup' as Nigerian call it. I will tell you a little about àmàla before teaching you how to prepare it.

Àmàlà is a Nigerian cuisine made out of yam flour and or cassava flour. Basically yam flour is yam that has been peeled, sliced, cleaned, dried and then blended into powder which is then called elubo. Yam is white in colour but it turns into a brownish colour after it has been dried; which gives àmàlà its dark brown colour. Àmàlà is derived from Western Africa and is eaten mostly by the Yoruba people in Nigeria. It could be served with a variety of ọbẹ (soup), such as ẹfọ, ilá, ewédú, or gbegiri (black-eyed beans soup)

There are two types of Àmàlà; àmàlà isu (derived from yam) and àma láfún (derived from cassava flour) Àmàlà derived from yam is brown while àmàlà derived from cassava is white in colour

Elubo (yam flour)

How to Prepare Àmàlà

The only ingredients needed when making àmàlà is boiling water and either one of the two types of yam flour. Once the water has come to a boil, reduce the heat. Add the elubo (powdered yam flour) into the boiled water and keep starring until all the water is absorbed. After which the dough is left to simmer for a few minutes. Then the dough is pulled along with the water until desired texture. The pulling of the dough into a smooth paste is the most difficult part of making àmàlà, but makes a perfect arm toning exercise! Lol