Egusi balls and Dodo Kebabs

I had some Egusi in the house and was not in the mood for a soup. So I put on my creative hat and came up with Egusi balls and Dodo Kebabs that can serve as small chops or a light meal. I actually got my inspiration from an Efik dish called Ekpang Nkukwo Ikon. I will feature this very soon. Egusi has plenty of oil though, so for those looking to lose weight this is not the soup for you to eat too regularly. But again the oil is good for the heart. From the way the Egusi balls and Dodo Kebabs flew off the plate I know this will be a winner for many parties.

Fuel scarcity in Nigeria in the last three weeks has taken its toll on almost every aspect of our existence. The hardship and discomfort has been much. With the scarcity in its third week , the weekend was a challenging with no electricity to power the fridge and freezers. There was no fuel either to go out and have a decent meal. Telephone service providers were already sending messages of possible limited service and travelling was cut down as the airlines cancelled flights.

 

Many friends like me emptied their freezers of raw foods and cooked up all those meats, chicken and fish that had been stored away to be used for a period of two weeks. With the poor electricity situation I had immediately changed my menu to feature more of stews than anything else. I find stews to be more resistant to warming and rewarming. Indeed the more it is warmed, the more the taste improves particularly if it is fried beef stew.

Any way on a more cheerry note we can switch to

. Enjoy the life!

 

Recipe for Egusi balls and Dodo Kebabs

Ingredients

11/2 cups Egusi

1-2 pieces Scotch Bonnet Pepper

1 piece Yellow Cameroun Pepper

1/4 small Onion

Seasoning cube to taste

Yaji (dry ginger + clove + dry Chilli pepper)

Salt to taste

Pieces of fried Beef

Pieces fried Plantain

Method

1. Dry the Egusi till it starts to pop and is dry. When frying you have to stir frequently to get it fried on all sides. Do not brown the Egusi. This method of treating the Egusi helps to remove the raw taste from the seeds.
2. Blend the Egusi into a smooth powder.
3. Place in a mortar or food processor add the pepper, onion, seasoning, Yaji and salt to taste. Pound together until oil starts to appear in the Egusi.
4. Scrape out into a bowl and add the diced beef and mix well.
5. Take some of the Egusi in your hands press hard and squeeze out the oil into a bowl. Tip: To prevent the pepper from hurting my hands I rubbed some vegetable oil all over my hands before carrying out this process.
6. Mold the Egusi  into small balls. The quantity of Egusi used here makes about 30 small balls
7. Wrap the balls in Moin Moin leaves or foil, place on an elevated platform and steam for about 20-30 minutes as you will do for Moin Moin. Take care not to allow water get into the Egusi balls at all else you lose the flavour into the water. When cooked the balls turn a bit whitish.
8. Take out Egusi balls and serve with dodo cubes on cocktail sticks.
9. Mix a little Yaji in the Egusi oil that was squeezed out and drizzle on the balls.