BANGA SOUP / OBE EYIN serves 4

Palm-nut soup

500g / l1b Assorted parts of meat
225g / 8oz stockfish (pre-soaked)
225g / 8oz bushmeat (washed)
1kg / 2Ib oil-palm nuts
225g / 8oz ground crayfish
1pt stock or water
225g / 8oz Okro (sliced)
100g / 4oz ground pepper
1 onion (sliced)
salt to taste

Place the washed meat in a large pot, add a drop of water or stock season with salt and ground pepper and boil for 30 minutes or until tender.

Add the smoked fish and stockfish, cook for another 10 minutes. Prepare the oil-palm nut to extract the oil by boiling the washed nuts for 20 minutes until soft. Remove from water and pound to remove the oil. Pass through a sieve to separate the kernels from the chaff. Pour the strained pulp into the meat together with the sliced peppers onions' tomatoes puree and Okro. Sprinkle in the crayfish and cook for 15minutes until the soup is fairly reduced and thickened to coat the back of spoon. Check seasoning and serve with pounded yam (Iyan) or Usin/Egun obobo (starch & plantain pudding).

VARIATIONS
Fresh fish crayfish and shrimps could be used instead of meat with a small amount of ground egusi (melon seeds) added instead of Okro. Freshly washed bitter leaf could also be added.

Courtesy of Laura Edet