Nigeria | Main dish

Amala, Ewedu and Gbegiri

Name: Amala, Ewedu and Gbegiri
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 95 min
Total time: 130 min
Yield: 6 plates
Cuisine: Nigeria, West Africa
Ingredients: 3 cups yam flour elubo; 5 cups water, plus more as needed; 1½ cups peeled brown beans or black-eyed peas; 2 tbsp palm oil; 1 tsp ground crayfish; 400 g ewedu or jute leaves, washed; ½ tsp kaun potash; 2 cups pepper stew, for serving; salt, to taste

A classic Yoruba plate of yam flour swallow served with jute leaf ewedu, silky bean gbegiri, and stew.

Country

Nigeria

Region

West Africa

Time

130 min

Serves

Level

hard

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Recipe overview

What to know before you cook

Amala with ewedu and gbegiri is one of the great Yoruba plates: dark yam flour swallow, stretchy jute leaf soup, bean soup, and red stew sharing one bowl.

What the dish tastes like

A classic Yoruba plate of yam flour swallow served with jute leaf ewedu, silky bean gbegiri, and stew.

When to cook it

Best for Best for weekend lunch, buka-style plates, parties, and proper swallow cravings., with a hard cooking level and about 130 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Assorted meat stew, ponmo, beef, goat, or fish.

Regional lane

South-West and Yoruba table. Amala, ewedu, gbegiri, pepper stews, leafy soups, beans, and market foods from the Yoruba cooking orbit.

Chef watch-outs

Stopping the base before the pepper, onion, or spice edge has mellowed.
Thinning the pot before the body of the soup or stew has developed.
Overcooking the greens until the color and texture collapse.

How you know it is ready

The sauce should coat the spoon and taste rounded, not watery or raw.
Greens should be cooked through but still look alive and glossy.
The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.

Pantry lane

palm oil, crayfish, iru or ogiri, scotch bonnet, melon seed

Chef board

Build the table around Amala, Ewedu and Gbegiri

Assorted meat stew, ponmo, beef, goat, or fish.

Best route from here

South-West and Yoruba table

Collections to keep cooking

Nigerian Regional Table

Servings 6

Scale the dish before you shop, then use the checklist while you cook.

Ingredients

For 6 plates

Main dish

Amala

3 cups yam flour elubo 5 cups water, plus more as needed

Gbegiri

1½ cups peeled brown beans or black-eyed peas 2 tbsp palm oil 1 tsp ground crayfish (optional)

Ewedu

400 g ewedu or jute leaves, washed ½ tsp kaun potash (optional)

Serving

2 cups pepper stew, for serving

Pantry

salt, to taste

How to cook it

Step-by-step method

Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.

Back to Nigeria

5 steps 130 min total hard

Cook gbegiri

Cook peeled beans until very soft, then blend smooth with cooking liquid.

beans 50:00

Finish gbegiri

Return blended beans to the pot with palm oil, crayfish if using, and salt. Simmer until silky.

gbegiri simmer 15:00

Cook ewedu

Boil ewedu leaves briefly with optional potash, then whisk or blend until stretchy. Season lightly.

ewedu 07:00

Make amala

Bring water to a boil, reduce heat, sprinkle in yam flour, and beat until smooth and elastic.

amala 12:00

Plate abula style

Serve amala with ewedu, gbegiri, and pepper stew in the same bowl.

serve 03:00

Some plates use abula, the full combination of ewedu, gbegiri, and stew. Others serve only ewedu and stew.

Amala, Ewedu and Gbegiri

What to know before you cook

Build the table around Amala, Ewedu and Gbegiri

Step-by-step method

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