Ẹ̀bà ( Yoruba) also known as Ebe or Pinon' (in Togo, Benin, and southern Ghana) is a staple

swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...

from Nigeria,

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

and

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

, also eaten in the West African sub-region and other African countries. The term èbà originates from Yoruba. It is a cooked starchy vegetable food made from dried grated

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 ...

(manioc) flour commonly known as

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 ...

all across West Africa. It is often eaten with rich soups and stews, with beef, stockfish or mutton. The dish is often described as having a slightly sour, sharp taste. ''Èbà'' is eaten with the fingers, rolled into a small ball, and dipped into thick soups such as

okra Okra (, ), ''Abelmoschus esculentus'', known in some English-speaking countries as lady's fingers, is a flowering plant in the Malvaceae, mallow family native to East Africa. Cultivated in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate regions aro ...

soup, chilli paste in Togo, bitter leaf soup or with either

okro Okra (, ), ''Abelmoschus esculentus'', known in some English-speaking countries as lady's fingers, is a flowering plant in the mallow family native to East Africa. Cultivated in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate regions around the wo ...

, ọgbọnọ (

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a t ...

)/ apọn (

Yorùbá Yoruba may refer to: * Yoruba people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Yoruba language, a West African language of the Volta–Niger language family * Yoruba alphabet, a Latin alphabet used to write in the Yoruba language * Yoruba religion, West A ...

), or ewédú, meat or fish,

stew A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been Cooking, cooked in Soup, liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for ...

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

s or other

sauce In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi- solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavour, texture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French wor ...

s such as '' gbẹ̀gìrì'', ''ofe akwu'' ( banga soup) or

egusi Egusi, also spelled egushi ( Yoruba: Ẹ̀gúṣí), are the protein-rich seeds of certain cucurbitaceous plants ( squash, melon, gourd), which, after being dried and ground, are used as a major ingredient in West African cuisine. Egusi is ...

soup. In West Africa, there two types of garri, the white and yellow; the yellow garri is prepared by

frying Frying is the cooking of food in cooking oil, oil or another fat. Similar to sautéing, pan-fried foods are generally turned over once or twice during cooking to make sure that the food is evenly cooked, using tongs or a spatula, whilst sautéed ...

with the addition of

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...

to give it a yellow colour and extra flavour while the white garri is fried without palm oil and is slightly more acidic with a sharper taste.

Preparation

Blended

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

is mixed into hot water and stirred thoroughly and vigorously with a wooden

spatula A spatula is a broad, flat, flexible blade used to mix, spread and lift material including foods, drugs, plaster and paints. In medical applications, "spatula" may also be used synonymously with tongue depressor. The word ''spatula'' derives ...

until it becomes a firm

dough Dough is a malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from flour (which itself is made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops). Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes ...

that can be rolled into a ball. It can be made with different types of garri. Depending on the type of garri flour used, Ẹ̀bà can vary in colour, from deep yellow to off white.

Palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...

is often added to the garri during preparation, resulting in a bright yellow colour.

Nutrition

Eba is rich in starch and

carbohydrate A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ...

s. Eba has a gross energy content of 381.5 kcal which is higher than other cassava products like ''fufu'' and ''lafun'' with 180 kcal and 357.7 respectively. However, it has a crude protein content of 0.9g/100g, slightly lower than ''fufu'' and ''lafun'' with 1.0g/100g and 1.1g/100g respectively.

Gallery

Individual plate of garri to eat by hand with fish and greens, Baba1 (5570984125).jpg, Garri to eat by hand with fish and greens. Ndop, Northwest

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

, 2011 Eba and Efo riro (Vegetable Soup) with Fish.jpg, Eba and Efo riro (vegetable soup) with fish. Nigeria, 2014 Swallow_from_Nigeria.JPG, Wraps of Eba and pounded yam

References

External links

* * * Cassava dishes Ghanaian cuisine Nigerian cuisine Swallows (food) Yoruba cuisine {{Nigeria-cuisine-stub