Amala – How to Make Lump Free and Fluffy Amala Recipe

Amala is a traditional Nigerian native food to the Yoruba ethnic group in the western states of the country. It’s made out of unripe plantain flour, yam flour, and/or cassava flour.

What is Amala Made of?

Yams are peeled, cut, washed, and dried before being ground into a flour known as èlùbo. Yams are white when fresh, but when dried, they turn brown. This is how àmàlà is made of and gets its color.

ÀMÀLÀ is a West African dish consumed mostly by the Yoruba people of Nigeria, particularly in the state of Oyo. Ibadan people do not play with amala and ewedu, likewise akpu na ofe onuigbu for an Ibo man

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Amala food is mostly consumed by indigenous peoples in Nigeria’s southwest. It could be accompanied by a variety of obe (soups), for example, ẹ̀fọ́, ilá, ewédú, ogbono or gbẹ̀gìrì (black-eyed beans soup).

Types of Amala

• Àmàlà isu,
• Àmàlà láfn, and
• Amala ogede are the three types of àmàlà.
• Àmàlà Isu (Yam Flour)

This is the most common àmàlà fufu, and it is made from yam. Because of its high starch content, Dioscorea cayenensis is the ideal yam species for making àmàlà.

Yam grows throughout Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Oceania, and Latin America, and is the common name for plants in the genus Dioscorea.

95 percent of it, however, is grown and harvested in West Africa.

Yam can be eaten in a variety of ways, including boiling, roasted, baked, fried, and ground into flour.

Because of the perishability of yam due to its high moisture content, it is necessary to dry it into less perishable goods such as yam flour.

The flour can be reconstituted with hot water to make a paste or gel known in Ghana as Kokonte and in Nigeria as “Amala.”

Dried yam is used to make amàlà isu. When added to boiling water, it turns a black/brownish color.

Because yam is a key source of carbohydrate for many people in the Sub-Saharan region, particularly in the yam zone of West Africa, hence, amala is high in carbs.

• Àmàlà láfn (cassava flour)

The àmàlà láfn, which is manufactured from cassava flour, is the second type. “Lafun” is the name given to dried cassava flour in Nigeria and “kokente” in Ghana

Cassava is a Euphorbiaceae (spurge) family woody shrub. The most prominent carbohydrate sources in Nigeria are cassava and yam.

Nigeria is the world’s leading cassava producer. Àmàlà láfn is made from cassava flour as a dry powder.

Garri, a fermented and flaky meal popular among the Ijebu people, is another common meal from cassava.

• Plantain flour (Amala ogede) 

Elubo ogede is another form of Amala (which is usually lighter in color). Plantain flour’s low carbohydrate content makes it an ideal diet for diabetics and those who require a low-carbohydrate diet.

Unripe plantains are peeled, dried, and grated into boiling water to make amala ogede, which is light brown in color.

Amala Recipe – How to Make Amala

The only ingredients needed to make àmàlà fufu are boiling water and one of the desired types of flour.

This recipe is for black Amala the white one (Lafun) is made in a different way. So below is a step-by-step guide to making Amala perfect.

Method

• Firstly, the heat is turned down after the water has reached a boil.
• Then, the flour is added and mixed until the water has been absorbed completely.
• After that, more hot water is added, then the dough is left to simmer for approximately five minutes.
• Lastly, the dough is then kneaded until it is smooth and fluffy.

The most challenging element of creating àmàlà is kneading the dough into a smooth paste without lumps.

Observations

• The cooking time is around 5 minutes.
• The calorie calculation is merely an estimate.

Diverse Soups for the Amala Dish

Amàlà goes well with a variety of soups:

• Egusi: thickened melon seeds and leaf vegetables soup
• Ewedu soup is made with cooked and grated Corchorus leaves and a tiny amount of egusi and/or locust beans.
• Okro soup (okra soup)
• Efo riro: a dish cooked with vegetables and a variety of meats, fish, and other ingredients
• Ogbono soup is made with pulverized ogbono seeds and a garnish of stockfish and locust beans.
• Lastly, gbegiri soup, made from dried beans