Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

ian cuisine, ''banku'' and ''akple'' () are dishes made of a slightly

fermented Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food p ...

cooked mixture of corn and

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated ...

doughs formed into single-serving balls. ''Banku'' is cooked in hot water until it turns into a smooth, whitish paste, served with soup, okra stew or a pepper sauce with fish. ''Akple'' is preferred by the people of the southern regions of Ghana—the Ewe people, the

Fante people The Mfantsefo or Fante ("Fanti" is an older spelling) are an Akan people. The Fante people are mainly located in the Central and Western coastal regions of Ghana. Over the last half century, due to fishing expeditions, Fante communities are fou ...

and the Ga-Dangme—but it is also eaten across other regions in Ghana. ''Banku'' is a softer variety eaten by the GaDangme (or Ga), while the Fante people also have a drier variant of the dish they call ''ɛtsew''.

Etymology

''Banku'' is a distinctively Ga-Dangme term. There are similar tonal terms with different meaning in the Ga language, such as ''Inku'' (for pomade in the Ga-language), ''Ashanku'' (for a variant of a plantain fritter called ''Tatale''), and many other names ending in 'ku'.

Ingredients and preparation

The main ingredients for preparing ''banku'' are

corn flour Cornflour may refer to: * Cornflour (in the UK), corn starch, from the endosperm of the kernel of the corn (maize) grain * Corn flour (in the US and elsewhere), very finely ground cornmeal, ground from dried maize See also * Flour * Starch ...

, salt and water. ''Banku'' and ''akple'' are made with similar ingredients.

Cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated ...

is peeled, chopped and mixed with corn grains and soaked for a day. The water is poured off and the cassava and maize are milled into a smooth, fine and wet dough. The dough is then fermented for two to five days, depending on temperature. The corn and cassava dough is mixed with water and then boiled. The mixture is stirred gradually until the slurry becomes dough-like again and is then kneaded until it is smooth. Water is added around the "dough-in-pan-island", enough to almost cover the surface. It then needs to be covered well and allowed to boil, ensuring even cooking and steaming of the dough in the covered pan. Next, the dough is kneaded with a spatula to incorporate the water into it until it is smooth. The process is repeated with centering, watering, and kneading until the dough is soft and evenly cooked. The cooked dough is portioned into small balls. ''Banku'' and ''akple'' are traditionally eaten with hands. ''Akple'' is usually eaten with an '' okro'' (okra) soup known as ''Fetri Detsi'' among the Ewes. It can be served with soup, stew or

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

sauce with meat or fish.

Gallery

Akple.jpg, Akple Banku ne mako.jpg, ''Banku'' and pepper Grilled tilapia with banku.jpg, Grilled

tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most ...

with ''banku'' Banku soup with crab and fermented maize.jpg, ''Banku'' with '' okro'' 'okra' stew and crab BANKU WITH FRIED FISH & HOT PEPPER.jpg, ''Banku'' with fried fish and hot pepper A ball of “Akple” tied in a rubber.jpg, A ball of akple tied in plastic Akple and Borbi Tadi.jpg, Akple ''(upper-right)'' and borbi tadi GH local food.jpg, A woman preparing ''banku'' in Ghana Turning Banku 3.jpg, Preparing ''banku''

References

External links

Video: How to Prepare BankuVideo: How To Make Akple & Abobi (Keta school boys ) Pepper Sauce
{{African cuisine Fermented foods Ghanaian cuisine Maize dishes Swallows (food) Togolese cuisine Cuisine by country