Efo Igagba is the leaves of African garden eggs. In Nigeria, there are two major types of garden Eggs, the white one and the green one. But efo Igbo is Green garden eggs leaves.

Either green or white, garden eggs are staple foods in Nigeria. It can be eaten raw, boiled, sauteed, in soups and sauces. Garden egg sauce can be paired with boiled African yams, boiled sweet potatoes or Irish potatoes, Eko or Agidi, white rice and lots more.

But today, we will be focusing on how to cook efo Igbo also called efo gbagba. There are two major recipes for cooking it.

You can cook it in;

• Efo riro style (vegetable stew)
• Efo Elegusi style (Egusi soup recipe)

For this recipe, I will be explaining to how using the efo riro recipe. There are a couple of Efo Elegusi recipe here, please click below to read more on anyone that interests you.

• Egusi soup recipe with Amunututu leaves
• How to cook egusi soup with ugu leaves | frying method

A lot of people do not know this soup because the leaves are not common as ugh leaves and other popular leafy green vegetables used for cooking soup.

However, it remains one of the most delicious Nigerian soup when cooked correctly.

Ingredients

African Egg Plants Leaves

6 tablespoon Salt

½ cup Palm oil

Habanero pepper (ata rodo)

Cooked Beef

Cooked Tripe (shaki)

Tomatoes

Bell pepper (tatashe)

Panla (dried hake fish)

Locust beans (Iru)

Onions

Seasoning cube

Crayfish powder

Let’s cook together

Cooking Preparations

• Roughly blend the tomatoes, onions, bell pepper, habanero pepper in to a not too smooth paste
• Detach leaves from the stalk.
• Cut the leaves into big chunks ( to make cooking easier)
• Put leaves into a big bowl, add 4 tablespoon salt and enough water to cover the leaves
• Wash leave in a swishing motion to reduce the toughness.
• Rinse the leaves to remove the salt and greenish residue.
• Pour palm oil in a pot
• Allow oil heat up briefly
• Add all other ingredients starting with the locust beans
• Unlike other vegetable soup recipes, you have to add the vegetables at the beginning instead of after the pepper base has been properly cooked.
• Cook for 5 minutes firt then mix properly to ensure none of the ingredient is stuck at the bottom of the pot
• Cook for 10 more minutes

EFO GBAGBA IS READY. To watch full recipe video click here How to cook Efo Igbo/Efo gbagba