Egusi Sauce
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Egusi soup is a
soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ing ...
prepared with egusi seeds as a primary ingredient. Egusi seeds are the
fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers spec ...
- and
protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...
-rich
seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...
s of certain
cucurbitaceous The Cucurbitaceae, also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family consisting of about 965 species in around 95 genera, of which the most important to humans are: *''Cucurbita'' – squash, pumpkin, zucchini, some gourds *''Lagenari ...
(squash, melon, gourd) plants. Egusi soup is common and prevalent across
Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, ...
, and may be served atop rice, cooked vegetables, or grilled meat, such as goat, chicken, beef, or fish. It may also be served atop
fufu Fufu (or fufuo, foofoo, foufou ) is a dough-like food found in West African cuisine. In addition to Ghana, it is also found in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, Cote D'Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the ...
, omelettes,
amala Amala may refer to: People * Amala Akkineni, South Indian actress * Amala Chebolu, playback singer in the Telugu film industry, also known as Tollywood * Amala Paul (born 1991), South Indian actress * Amala Shankar (1919–2020), Indian dancer * ...
, and
eba Ẹ̀bà (in Nigeria) or Pinon (in Togo, Benin, and southern Ghana) is a staple food mainly eaten in the West African sub-region and other African countries. The term èbà originates from the Yoruba people of southwest Nigeria. It is a coo ...
, among other foods. Egusi soup is also consumed in West Africa, sometimes with chicken.


Preparation

It is prepared by grinding egusi seeds, from which a paste is created. There are two methods of preparing Egusi Soup: 1. Frying method: In this method, fry the ground melon paste (egusi paste) in palm oil before adding other ingredients. 2. Boiling method: When using this method, you can add small lumps of the egusi paste to boiling water and break them using the back of a ladle after cooking for 10 minutes. Soup ingredients may include tomato, onion, chili pepper, and cooking oil, such as
palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...
. Sometimes pumpkin seeds are substituted in place of egusi seeds.


Similar dishes

Egusi soup is a kind of
soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ing ...
thickened with the ground seeds and popular in
West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
, with considerable local variation. Besides the seeds, water, and oil, egusi soup typically contains
leaf vegetables Leaf vegetables, also called leafy greens, pot herbs, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender petioles and shoots. Leaf vegetables eaten raw in a salad can be called salad gre ...
and other vegetables,
seasonings Seasoning is the process of supplementing food via herbs, spices, salts, and/or sugar, intended to enhance a particular flavour. General meaning Seasonings include herbs and spices, which are themselves frequently referred to as "seasonings". Ho ...
, and
meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...
.


See also

*
List of soups This is a list of notable soups. Soups have been made since Ancient history, ancient times. Some soups are served with large chunks of meat or vegetables left in the liquid, while others are served as a broth. A broth is a flavored liquid usua ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Egusi soup African soups