How to make Nigerian Okpa at home? ~ Zeniths Blog

Okpa di oku! This what you will hear when if you happen to visit Enugu! If you hear Okpa sellers shouting ‘Okpa’, then you are definitely near Enugu. Do you know that you can make Okpa your home! It`s possible if you follow these simple instructions!

Okpa Ingredients

For 12 medium wraps of Okpa you will need:

– 1.2 liters of warm water;

– Habanero peppers;

– Salt;

– Four small bouillon cubes;

– Red Palm Oil (15 tablespoons);

– 3 cups of Okpa flour;

How to make Nigerian Okpa Wrappers

You will also need a strong food-safe string to tie the wrappers. You can take these strings from the 50 kg bags of rice. If you think that you can use bows for tying – you are wrong! Okpa needs to be immersed in hot boiling water, that`s not something you can achieve with bows. There are also other variants if you need to tie up the bags!

– Aluminum foil bags;

– Plastic bags (they must withstand high temperatures);

– Dry banana leaves;

– Bows (still, it should be used as a last resort!)

Okpa ingredients tips

– Another name for Okpa bean is Bambara groundnut. Some parts of the world has another name for Okpa – Jugo Beans. These beans come in small pods. Crack them open if you want to release the seeds. Okpa seeds are very hard. You can only grind them with a special grinder. It`s not a job for your dry kitchen mill.

– What to do if you live outside Nigeria? Amazon is the magic store to find Okpa Flour. It`s also possible to ask people from Nigeria to send you Okpa flour. The customs will allow you transport and receive the Okpa Flour because it`s powder.

– You will need to use a lot of oil for Okpa.

– Do not add too much seasoning! Okpa does not like too much of it! If you add a lot of crayfish and onions, then you will lose the delicious flavor of Okpa.

– What about the perfect Okpa Texture? You will need 1.2 litres of water for this! Do not add too much water! Otherwise, you will get too-watery Okpa. If you add less than 1.2, you will get a rocky Okpa meal.

What do you need before starting your Okpa preparation?

– Get the 1.5 liters of warm water;

– Now you have to cut your habanero pepper into small pieces

– Crush the stock cubes;

– Now, it’s now time for the banana leaves preparation. You will need to wash them i plenty of cold salt water! Do not use fresh banana leaves!

Okpa cooking directions

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– You need to sift the Okpa Flour! Sift it into a big bowl! Crush stock cubes with salt and add to the bowl. Mix everything together.

– Add your palm oil. Mix it together with the flour until they become one. You should get a nice yellow color.

– Pour water in a separate pot and boil it.

– Start adding the warm water into the Okpa flour. Mix until you get no lumps. You can use a blender for this process.

– Add the habanero pepper and salt to taste.

– Now you need to use the pot ( the one with boiling water) and wrappers! You can add spare wrappers before you move to the next step!

– It`s time for wrapping your Okpa! Just stir the Okpa mixture and scoop it into the leaves (plastic bags are also possible). Tie them up! Place the leaves into the bottom of the pot!

– You need to repeat this procedure until no Okpa left. Do not forget to stir the mix. Then, scoop it into the wrappers.

– When you are done with wrappers, cover the pot and cook the Okpa wrappers on medium heat.

– You will need to cook it for one hour before checking in! After one hour, you will see that your Okpa is ready!

– Now it`s time to serve!

You might be wondering:

How to make Okpa wrappers?

It`s very easy! You may use banana leaves for that or plastic bags! If you want to use plastic bags, then follow the following instructions:

– Double the plastic bags;

– Get the string you will need for tying ready;

– Put the Okpa mixture to the bag;

– Tie it up, and it`s ready to be placed into the pot.

If you want to use banana leaves, then you need to follow these instructions:

– Take two banana leaves (Sheets of leaves);

– Place the leaves on a work surface (It must be flat!)

– You must fold them into two (horizontally);

– Take the open ends and roll them up;

– Pick it up and adjust the ponted end to form a cup;

– Take the Okpa mixture and place it into the banana leaves bags;

– Gather the open ends of the banana leaves together and tie them up with a string!

– Here you go! It`s ready to be placed in the pot!

Want to know the best part?

After one hour of boiling the Okpa, you can serve it! You will have your own Okpa food at home! Do not forget to surprise your friends and relatives with Okpa. If you serve Okpa for breakfast, then it can go perfectly with cocoa milk, Ogri, Akamu or oatmeal. Okpa for lunch is best served with soaked Asoki. You can also eat this snack with a chilled drink.

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