How To Cook Efo Igbo With Egusi

Some time ago, I posted about the first method on How To Cook Efo Gbagba | Efo Igbo Recipe . In this blog post I will be writing about the second method you can use to cook Efo Igbo.

The English meaning of the word ‘Efo’ is vegetable. Efo is a Yoruba word used to refer to any leafy green vegetable.

This is the reason why many Nigerian recipes of Yoruba origin contain the word ‘Efo’ in them.

Examples of such recipes are stated below

How To Cook Efo Iyana Ipaja – Delicious Hospital Too Far Leaves Soup

How To Cook Egusi Soup With Spinach | Amunututu Leaves

How To Make Egusi Soup With Vegetables

What is Efo Igbo/Efo Gbagba

Efo Igbo is predominantly eaten by Yoruba people in Nigeria. Its other name is Efo Gbagba and in this recipe I will be using both names interchangeably.

Efo Igbo in English is called African Eggplant leaves because the leaves are the leaves of African egg plants which is also called garden eggs in Nigeria or Igba in Yoruba language.

Just as garden egg leaves are used to make delicious soups, garden eggs are also used to make deliciously rich sauce commonly used to eat cooked tuber plants such as boiled yams, boiled sweet potatoes, boiled Irish potatoes and many more.

Learn more about the Garden Egg Sauce | Garden Egg Stew recipe.

Apart from sourcing for Efo gbagba which may be a little hard depending on the season as well as your location, other ingredients are relatively easy to get even when you reside outside Nigeria.

You can shop here to get the ingredients stated below in the United Kingdom.

Ingredients for Efo Igbo elegusi

The following are the ingredients needed for cooking Efo Igbo or Efo gbagba with egusi. Feel free to modify these ingredients to suit your taste.

20 efo Igbo leaves
1/4 cup of palm oil
1 tablespoon iru or locust beans
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 table spoon chicken seasoning
1/2 tablespoon kaun/potash
3 tablespoons crayfish powder
5 pieces of ponmo
1 kote fish
1/2 cup egusi
2 mediun size onions
2 bell peppers
6 tomatoes
5 cayenne peppers
7 scotch bonnet peppers

You can shop here to get these ingredients in the United Kingdom.

Now that the ingredients for this recipe have been listed above , I will be moving on to explain how to use these ingredients to make delicious Efo gbagba elegusi.

How to cook Efo igbo with egusi

Cut the fish into small slices
Clean the fish slices by removing the insides.
Rise well and set aside.
Remove the leaves from the stalk
Throw the stalk away as it is not needed for this recipe
Slice the leaves and set aside
Blend the tomatoes, bell peppers, cayenne peppers, scotch bonnet peppers and onions to a semi-smooth texture.
Boil about 5 cups of water.
Get a big enough bowl for rinsing the leaves
Put Potash in the bowl
Pour the hot water into the bowl
Stir till the potash dissolves completely
Add the sliced leaves and allow simmer for 2-3 minutes
Drain the water from the leaves by pouring it into a basket/sieve
Rinse the leaves again with water to get rid of most of the traces of the potash
Set steamed leaves aside
Place your pot on the cooker
Pour palm oil into the pot and allow it heat up briefly
Add locust beans, blended tomatoes mix, stock fish fillets and ponmo.

Also add salt, crayfish powder and chicken seasoning.
Mix well and add the cleaned fishes.
Cook for 10 minutes then remove the fishes
It is necessary to remove the fishes so that it does not crumble in the soup because alot of mixing will be done now.

Add Egusi powder mix well
Also add water if need
Cook for 10 minutes
After 10 minutes, mix the soup well because egusi has a penchant of sticking to the pot
Put in the steamed vegetables and mix well
Then put the steamed fishes back in the soup
Cook for 3-4 minutes

Efo gbagba or Efo Igbo is ready to be enjoyed.

Just like most Nigerian soups, Efo gbagba can be enjoyed with your preferred swallow such as;