The thing with Nigerian food recipes is that we use basically the same ingredients but the methods of cooking is what differentiates the dishes. I have eaten Miyan Taushe in a couple of restaurants but have not cooked it at home before now.
I was going through my list of Nigerian soups and realized that I was missing a popular and favorite one from the north and that is Miyan Taushe. I then realized that for someone like me living in Lagos, what has kept me back has been the difficulty of finding Taushe (pumpkin). But I then discovered that pumpkin is available readily with Hausa traders in southern markets. Of course for those living in the north, pumpkin is everywhere.
So last weekend when I cooked it, my husband asked why we had not been having this all along on the menu. I rolled my eyes in my head – as most women do – and said to myself, this man wants me to open a restaurant at home abi. Maybe I should do ‘Wife Swap’ with another woman who serves up rice and stew, Beans and Dodo and stretches herself to make some watery Egusi soup and Eba, enhen my oga at the top will appreciate the variety he is getting. This blog sef is putting me in trouble…heels sigh. Well I am kidding, he does appreciate the variety he gets …so for those that have his contact and were ready to tell me, I have reported myself ooh.
For this recipe, I added my twist of including African nutmeg and the flavour of the soup was so much more interesting than the one I ate at the restaurant.
Miyan Taushe goes well with any tuwo or swallow of choice. Tuwon Shinkafa (mashed rice) is a favourite accompaniment. I tried with Semovita and liked it.
Enjoy the Life!
Recipe for Miyan Taushe
Ingredients
8 pieces Beef
2 pieces Smoked Fish
Pomo (optional)
1/2 cup roasted Ground nut (powder )
1 cup Pumpkin (when mashed)
2 handfuls Spinach or Aleho
1/2 handful Yakwa
2 pieces Tomato (chopped)
Scotch Bonnet Pepper to taste (chopped)
1 medium size Onion (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1 seed African nutmeg (optional)
2 cooking spoons Palm oil
Seasoning cube to taste
Salt to taste
Method
- Season, beef with salt, pepper, onion, ginger powder and beef seasoning and steam till cooked
- Peel and chop the pumpkin into small cubes and boil in the meat before it is fully cooked
- Blend the groundnut into a paste with African nutmeg.
- In a separate pot, heat the palm oil, fry the onion, pepper and tomato for about 3 minutes.
- Pour in the meat and stock, pumpkin, the washed smoked fish and Pomo, add about 11/2 cups of water correct the seasoning and bring to boil for about 10 minutes.
- Take some of the water from the pot and dissolve the ground nut paste and add to the pot, allow to boil for about 5 minutes. The soup could still be watery at this stage.
- Mash up the pumpkin in the soup. You may wish to leave some whole. The pumpkin is essentially to add bulk and thicken the soup. Taste to correct the seasoning.
- Lastly add the chopped spinach and yakwa, cook for 3 minutes and the soup is ready.
- Serve with any swallow of choice.
Hi 1q, wats yakwa. I lov dis recipe by d way
Hi Precious. Yakwa is the zobo vegetable.. This is where the zobo flower comes from. Please ask the Hausa traders in the market they will direct you to where you can get it.
for those of us living in the states, what is pumpkin at the grocery store cos the one i know does not look like the pic above. Thanks.
Hello Akennyg. If you referring to the small ones this will serve the purpose also.
Hi is there an alternative to yakwa for folks in the UK
Wish I can get pumpkin in minna right now. Thanks for this recipe ma’am.
Hello Sherry. You should be able to get pumpkin also called kabewa in Hausa. You can also replace replace the pumpkin with hard ripe paw paw. The one that is still crunchy like carrots.
One can sense the taste of d soup by its look! U’re doing a great job. Pls can u do us d favour of providing d names of recipes in yoruba and igbo language? Or with their popular names. Eg I think u’re reffering to ata rodo(yoruba) as scotch bonnet pepper?
Hello Lydia. You just read my mind clearly. This so amazing. I thought this morning about that and will provide a comprehensive glossary on the blog. Thank you for the suggestion.