Top 10 Nigerian Dishes

If you have the opportunity to come to West Africa and you happen to fly into the tropical country called Nigeria, you would certainly be in for a treat. Nigeria is very rich in culture and tradition, with over 527 languages and 1150 dialects, it is little wonder you have a wide variety of food dishes to tantalise your tastebuds. So what would I call the top 10 Nigerian dishes?

I caught up with Chef KD and John Ude who have helped me showcase some of the delicious dishes I would be talking about today.

1.    JOLLOF RICE

How can I describe this delicious dish that would do it justice. It is prepared with tomatoes, rice, onions and secret Nigerian seasonings. There is current food war between Nigeria and Ghana about who makes the best jollof rice. Don’t say you heard it from me, but Nigerian jollof rice is 100% better.

2   AMALA AND EWEDU

This dish is purely of Yoruba descent, powdered yam, cooked over a slow blaze to form a jelly like ball served with Ewedu, stew and delicious meat. You won’t forget the taste and it is best served hot. Be careful, because the stew could be abit spicy.

3   OKRA SOUP

How can I talk about top ten Nigerian dishes without talking about okra soup. This is a delicious soup made from okra with palm oil and traditional spices Chef KD’s okra variation is all in one. Some serve Okra with stew on top depending on how it is prepared. It is served with pounded yam or semovita.

4   NKWOBI

Goat meat is delicacy in Nigeria and among the Igbo people of Nigeria. Nkwobi is a popular dish but Chef KD puts a delicious twist to it by swopping the goat meat with pork.

5    BITTERLEAF SOUP

Have you ever had a bitter – sweet feeling in your heart about something? Well this is the same thing but the taste is in your tummy. Bitter leaf soup is prepared from vegetable leaves that are very bitter indeed. Most of the bitter taste is washed away and whats left is converted into a delicious soup.

6    AFANG SOUP

This traditional Calabar dish is a show stopper. The taste is very interesting and its something you have to taste to describe. A delicious burst of succulent flavours is sure to await you. It is served with pounded yam, ebaor even semovita.

7  PORRIDGE

This is not your traditional porridge as you can see. The Nigerian porridge can be garnished with what we describe as pomo as was done by Chef John Ude in this picture. It is made with palm oil, yam and sometimes sweet potatoes, when nextin Nigeria, be sure to check this out.

8    PEPPER SOUP

They say if you cant stand the heat, get out of the kitchen, this spicy starter is sure to give you a kick. It is made with traditional spices and is spicy to say the least.

9    EGUSI SOUP

I love, love, love Egusi soup. It is easy to make and very nutritious. It is made from ground melon seeds, spinach and what Nigerians like to call ‘water leaf’. It is also served with pounded yam, eba, semovita and soon.

10    RICE AND STEW

Its easy to overlook rice and stew as a Nigerian dish but it is popular, delicious and served in almost every household. It is simply rice served with a sauce made from tomatoes, pepper (atarodo), bawa (another type of pepper), tatashe and garnished with various types of meat.

Thank you for reading. There are more delicious dishes in Nigeria, you can share your experience in the comment section.