Okoho is the main traditional food peculiar to the

Idoma people The Idomas are a people that primarily inhabit the lower western areas of Benue State, Nigeria, and some of them can be found in Taraba State, Cross River State, Enugu State, Kogi State and Nasarawa State in Nigeria. The Idoma language is cla ...

Benue State Benue is a State in the North Central Nigeria, North Central region of Nigeria. It is popularly referred to as part of the Middle belt. It has an estimated population of about 4,253,641 in List of Nigerian states by population, the 2006 census. ...

, Central Nigeria. It is made from the plant '' Cissus populnea'' belonging to the family Amplidaceae (

Vitaceae The Vitaceae are a family of flowering plants, with 14 genera and around 910 known species, including common plants such as Vitis, grapevines (''Vitis'' spp.) and Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Virginia creeper (''Parthenocissus quinquefolia''). Th ...

). It is a soup made from the Okoho stick which is very slimy after preparation. It is usually prepared with

bush meat A bush or shrub is a small or medium woody plant. Bush or Bushes may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name ** Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: ***Prescott Bush (1895-1972), ...

(such as grass-cutter, alligator and smoked meat etc.) and best served with pounded yam (aka Onihi). It can also be eaten with

semolina Semolina is the name given to roughly milled durum wheat mainly used in making pasta and sweet puddings. The term ''semolina'' is also used to designate coarse millings of other varieties of wheat, and sometimes other grains (such as rice or ma ...

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. ...

(made from

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 ...

) and yam flour. This soup is usually prepared without the use of oil. It is the most respected and demanded food in all Idoma events such as; traditional weddings, burial ceremonies, birthdays and other festivities. Okoho soup is highly medicinal and also known for its ability to aid digestion. Other Nigerian tribes such as Igbos and Igalas also refer to it as Okoho, while the stick is known as Ajara or Orogbolo by the Yoruba tribes of northern and southern Nigeria. The

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

s usually call it Dafara.

References

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Nigerian soups {{soup-stub