Abacha , also known as African salad, is a type of
food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...
originating with the
Igbos
The Igbo people ( , ; also spelled Ibo" and historically also ''Iboe'', ''Ebo'', ''Eboe'',
/
/
''Eboans'', ''Heebo'';
natively ) are an ethnic group found in Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea. Their primary origin is fo ...
in the
south eastern part of
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
.
Abacha is a product of
cassava
''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...
tubers. When the processing of it is done from scratch, harvested cassava is obtained, peeled, washed, cooked and sliced into desired sizes or shapes. It is soaked in a bowl, bucket, etc., for a day. It could be prepared instantly as abacha or sun-dried for future use.
Shredded dried cassava first needs to be softened by soaking in boiled water and covered up for a few minutes.
Optional supplementary ingredients, which are added with varying degrees of frequency and often represent regionally-derived variations, include, but are probably not limited to,
ogiri; ugba/ukpaka; oporo (large dried shrimp/s); fried fish; dry fish; coloured peppers; seasoning cubes;
ehuru/ehulu (commonly shortened to and called ''ehu''. in normal speech); pepper (e.g.,
scotch-bonnet); onions;
utazi; garden eggs (and/or the leaves);
ukazi leaves;
akidi-beans (marked variant); kpomo/kanda (cow-skin);
ukwa (possibly unique to the
Ikwerre); et-cetera. Palm oil, which in theory may either be red or a combination of red and bleached, is curdled using either kaun/potash, ngu (a more traditional version of contemporarily-conventional potash) or baking soda and the abacha slices are then mixed in the curdled oil.
The decision to add or not to add various condiments/additional ingredients is also partly dependent on whether it is intended to be consumed as a light, cold snack or more-or-less stand-alone (or at least in-between) meal. Abacha can serve both purposes.
Gallery
File:A plate of homemade àbàchà.jpg, Abacha with onions
File:Abacha in a plate.jpg, Abacha with protein
File:PXL 20230217 145711712.NIGHT.jpg, Abacha with fried fish and a glass of palm wine
Palm wine, known by several #Names, local names, is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm trees such as the Borassus, palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms. It is known by various names in different regions and ...
File:Native Eastern Nigeria African Salad.JPG, Plain abacha
Nutrition
Cassava is the main ingredient in abacha, and a single tuber contains about 80% carbohydrate.
There are 373 calories in one average serving of abacha.
See also
*
Eba
Ẹ̀bà ( Yoruba) also known as Ebe or Pinon' (in Togo, Benin, and southern Ghana) is a staple swallow from Nigeria, Togo and Benin, also eaten in the West African sub-region and other African countries. The term èbà originates from Yoruba. ...
*
Garri
In West Africa, ''garri'' (also known as ''gari'', ''galli'', or ''gali'') is the flour of the fresh starchy cassava root.
In the Hausa language, ''garri'' can also refer to the flour of guinea corn, maize, rice, yam, plantain and mille ...
*
Fufu
Fufu (or fufuo, foofoo, foufou ) is a pounded meal found in West African cuisine. It is a Twi word that originates from the Akans in Ghana. The word has been expanded to include several variations of the pounded meal found in other African c ...
References
{{Reflist
Igbo cuisine
Nigerian cuisine
West African cuisine