In West Africa, ''garri (also known as gari, galli'', or ''gali)'' is the flour of the fresh starchy cassava root. In the

Hausa language Hausa (; /; Ajami: ) is a Chadic language spoken by the Hausa people in the northern half of Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin and Togo, and the southern half of Niger, Chad and Sudan, with significant minorities in Ivory Coast. Hausa is a member ...

, ''garri'' can also refer to the flour of

guinea corn ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a Poaceae, grass species cultivated for its grain, which is used for food for humans, animal feed, and ethan ...

, maize, rice, yam, plantain and millet. For example, ''garin dawa'' is processed from

, ''garin masara'' and ''garin alkama'' originate from maize and wheat respectively, while ''garin magani'' is a powdery medicine. Starchy flours mixed with cold or boiled water form a major part of the diet in Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana,

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

, Cameroon and

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. Cassava, the root from which ''garri'' is produced, is rich in fiber, copper and magnesium. Garri is similar to

farofa ''Farofa'' () is a type of meal made from toasted cassava. It is eaten mainly in Brazil. It can be found commercially produced and packaged but can also be prepared at home based on family recipes. Most recipes will also contain varying amount ...

of Brazil, used in many food preparations and recipes, particularly in the state of Bahia.

Preparation

To make ''garri'' flour, cassava tubers are peeled, washed and grated or crushed to produce a mash. The mash can be mixed with palm oil and placed in a porous bag, which is then placed in an adjustable press machine for 1–3 hours to remove excess water. Once dried, it is then sieved and fried in a large clay frying pot with or without palm oil. The resulting dry granular garri can be stored for long periods. It may be pounded or ground to make a fine flour. ''Garri'' comes in various consistencies, including rough, medium and smooth, which are used to prepare different foods.

Dishes

'' Eba'' is a stiff dough made by soaking ''garri'' in hot water and kneading it with a wooden baton until it becomes a smooth doughy staple. It is served as part of a meal with soups and sauces. Some of these include okra soup, ''egusi'' soup, vegetable soup, ''afang'' soup, ''banga'' soup and bitter leaf soup. Similar starchy doughs are found as staples in other African cuisines. Eba and Egusi soup

''Kokoro'' is a Nigerian snack food common in southern and southeast Nigeria, especially

Abia State Abia State ( ig, Ȯha Abia) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, it is bordered to the north and northeast by the states of Enugu, and Ebonyi, Imo State to the west, Cross River State to the east, Akwa Ibom State to the ...

, Rivers State, Anambra State, Enugu State and

Imo State Imo State ( ig, Ȯra Imo) is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its n ...

. It is made from a paste of maize flour, mixed with ''garri'' and sugar and deep-fried. As a

snack A snack is a small portion of food generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home. Traditionally, snacks are p ...

, cereal, or light meal, ''garri'' can be soaked in cold water (in which case it settles to the bottom), mixed with

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

, and sometimes roasted peanuts and/or evaporated milk, also known as garri soakings. The amount of water needed for soaked ''garri'' is 3:1. ''Garri'' can also be eaten dry with sugar and roasted peanut. Other ingredients include coconut chunks, tiger nut milk, and cashews. In

, ''garri'' is used to make a dessert called ''kanyan'' which is combined with peanuts and honey. Food market 4

In its dry form, ''garri'' is used as an accompaniment for soft cooked beans and palm oil. This food mix is called ''yoo ke garri,'' or ''garri-fɔtɔ''/''galli-fɔtɔ'' (crushed garri) in the Ga language of Ghana and the Gen dialect of southern Togo and Benin. This type of garri is a mixture of moistened garri kneaded with a thickened tomato paste, oil, salt, seasonings. Yoo ke garri is garri with beans, which is typically eaten as lunch. It is also eaten with bean cake in Nigeria. Smooth ''garri'' (known as ''lebu'' to the

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

) can be mixed with pepper and other spicy ingredients. A small amount of warm water and

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 ...

is added and softened by hand. This type of ''garri'' is served with fried fish. It is served with

frejon Frejon (From ''Feijão'', which is the Portuguese word for beans) is a coconut milk and bean soup which is eaten especially during Holy Week by a selection of Christians, mostly Catholics, across the world. Countries where Frejon is popular include ...

Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...

Variations

In West Africa, two types of garri include white and yellow garri''.'' Yellow ''garri'' is prepared by adding palm oil just before the fermenting stage of the cassava mash. Alternatively, it can be made using the yellow-fleshed breed of cassava. White garri on the other hand is fried without palm oil. Variations of yellow and white ''garri'' are common across Nigeria and Cameroon. One variation of white ''garri'' is popularly known as ''garri-Ijebu''. This is produced mainly by the Yoruba people of Ijebu in Nigeria. In Ghana, ''garri'' is classified by taste and grain size. The sweeter types with finer grains are more valued over sourer, large grain varieties. Commercial food vendors prefer coarser grains with high starch content, as this produces a greater yield when soaked in water. Buyers often look out for crisper grains when trying to determine freshness.

References

External links

Gari on Ghanaweb.com

{{African cuisine Ghanaian cuisine Nigerian cuisine Igbo cuisine Cameroonian cuisine Fermented foods Staple foods Sierra Leonean cuisine Yoruba cuisine Liberian cuisine Cassava dishes

Preparation

Dishes

Variations

See also

References

External links