Nigeria | Main dish

Dan Wake

Name: Dan Wake
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 plates
Cuisine: Nigeria, West Africa
Ingredients: 2 cups bean flour; ½ cup cassava flour or tapioca starch; 1 tbsp kuka powder; 1 tsp baking potash water; 1¼ cups water, plus more as needed; 2 tbsp groundnut oil or palm oil; 1 tbsp yaji or suya pepper; 1 small onion, sliced; 2 whole boiled eggs; salt, to taste

Hausa bean flour dumplings boiled until tender, then dressed with oil, yaji, onions, tomato, and boiled egg.

Country

Nigeria

Region

West Africa

Time

45 min

Serves

Level

medium

Start cooking Explore Nigeria recipes

01 / Get ready

Everything you need

Tap each ingredient as you gather it. Illustrations are visual guides; follow the ingredient names and quantities.

Servings 4

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

Jump to method My cookbook

Ingredients

For 4 plates

Main dish

A few kitchen essentials

Suggested from the recipe method. Use equivalent equipment you have.

Lidded pot

02 / Let’s cook

One step at a time

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

Back to Nigeria

4 steps 25 min prep 20 min cook (check method) 45 min total medium

Mix the dough

Combine bean flour, cassava flour, optional kuka, salt, and enough water to make a soft sticky dough.

mix dough 06:00

Boil the dumplings

Bring water to a rolling boil. Drop small spoonfuls of dough into the pot and cook until firm.

boil dumplings 12:00

Drain

Lift the dumplings out with a slotted spoon and rinse briefly with hot water to separate them.

drain 03:00

Dress and serve

Toss with oil and yaji, then top with onions, tomato, and boiled egg if using.

dress plate 04:00

Some cooks add kuka powder to the dough, some use cassava flour as binder, and toppings vary from simple oil and pepper to a full salad plate.

Cooking notes, photos & serving ideas

Recipe context

More about this dish

Serving ideas, regional context, and cooking cues for when you want more detail.

When to cook it

Best for breakfast, lunch, and quick street-food-style meals.. Plan on a medium cook. Allow about 45 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Yaji, pepper oil, sliced onions, tomatoes, cabbage, cucumber, and boiled eggs.

Regional lane

Northern Nigerian table. Hausa and northern dishes made with grains, rice swallows, dried spices, groundnut, baobab leaves, and street foods.

Chef watch-outs

Skipping the resting time after grilling.
Rushing the base before the raw edge has cooked out.
Adding all seasoning early and forgetting to adjust at the end.

How you know it is ready

The surface should be deeply colored while the center stays juicy.
The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.
Oil, sauce, broth, or steam should look settled and deliberate.

Pantry lane

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

Recipe illustrations

See the dish before you cook

Take a closer look at the dish and its serving ideas.

Dan wake dumplings with sliced onions, tomatoes and a boiled egg; recipe illustration — Dan Wake finished dish · Recipe illustration

Chef board

Build the table around Dan Wake

Yaji, pepper oil, sliced onions, tomatoes, cabbage, cucumber, and boiled eggs.

Best route from here

Northern Nigerian table

Collections to keep cooking

Nigerian Regional Table Northern Nigerian Comforts

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