How To Make Hospital Too Far Leaf With Egusi – Efo Iyana Ipaja Leaf

As the name implies, hospital too far leaf has such a name because of the numerous amazing benefits it offers to its consumers.

Today, I share with you how to cook this delicious vegetable with egusi as well as some of it’s potential benefits.

There are different was to prepare this vegetable. Efo Iyana Ipaja can be prepared as efo riro or with egusi as I am about to outline in this comprehensive recipe.

This leafy green vegetable has different names depending on the people and locality.

It called efo Iyana Ipaja by Yoruba people, Igbo people call it Ugu Oyibo while Mexicans call it Chaya and it is known as tree spinach in English language.

Ingredients For Hospital Too Far leaf Soup.

1 cup blended egusi
8 tomatoes
2 bell peppers
Hospital too far leaves
2 Horse mackerel fish
2 cups of vegetable oil for frying
1 cup palm oil
4 tbsp crayfish powder
1/2 tbsp salt to taste
3 stock cubes
10 scotch bonnet peppers (ata rodo)
8 cayenne peppers (shombo)
2 tbsp iru (locust beans)
3 cleaned ponmo (cow skin)

The spice level can be adjusted by reducing the quantity of the scotch bonnet pepper.

How To Prepare Efo Iyana Ipaja With Egusi

Cutting the leaves from the tree requires that the hands are covered to protect them from the milky substance and prickly edges on the tree and the leaves.
After cutting, the next thing to do is to prepare them for cooking.
In preparing the leaves, you have to put everything in a big bowl and add a lot of salt.
The salt acts as a neutralising agent that will neutralise the toxins in the leaves.
Add a lot of water then let it sit for 5 minutes
After the waiting period, the leaves must be cleaned as many times as possible till the water is clear. – for better context, I cleaned the leaves for this recipe 5 times in order to get them ready.
Now it is time to slice the leaves.
Hospital too far leaf is harder than many regular vegetables that we use for cooking vegetable soup in Nigeria. So, it will still maintain its dry texture even when sliced thinly or in big chunks.
Blend the tomatoes, onions and peppers into a paste.
Clean the fish properly by using the steps here and put it all in a basket to drain the excess water.
Sprinkle 1 tsp salt over the clean fish in the basket.
Toss the fish up and down for 1-2 minutes so that it can be well coated with the salt
Heat up vegetable oil in a frying pan
Fry both side of the fish for 7 minutes, that 31/2 minutes on each
Scoop out the fried fish from the hot oil and set aside.
Pour palm oil into the pot, wait for 1-2 minutes so that the oil can be hot enough.
Fry locust beans in the hot oil for 1 minute on medium heat.
Add the blended pepper mix, ponmo, salt, crayfish powder, stock cube and fried fish.
Cook for 10 minutes on high heat.
After this, remove the fish from the sauce.
Add blended egusi, 1 cup of water and mix well to combine.
Cook for 15 minutes on high heat.
Mix well after 15 minutes so that the soup doesn’t get burnt.
Add efo iyana ipaja to the egusi soup, cook for 5 minutes
Stir very well again, then put back the fish that was removed earlier.
Mix gently and allow steam for 3 minutes on low heat.

Efo iyana Ipaja soup is ready to be enjoyed with any swallow of choice. Detailed recipes on how to make different swallow of your choice is also available on this blog for free.

For better understanding, below is a free detailed video of this recipe. Do watch and enjoy.

How to prepare hospital too far leaves with egusi.

As stated earlier, here are some of the benefits of efo iyana ipaja. .

Benefits of Efo Iyana Ipaja

Consuming this leafy green vegetable has the following potential benefits.

Weight Management: Just like many other vegetable, this is also believe to aid weight loss.
Better Blood Circulation: Many people believe Efo Iyana Ipaja enhances blood circulation and volume with the potential of improving the heart health.
Blood Sugar Regulation: It is believed that hospital too far leaves help to manage blood sugar levels.
Aids Digestion: It helps to prevent constipation while aiding digestion.

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