Swallow (food)

Swallows are a category of dough-like African and Indianstaple foods made of cooked starchy vegetables and/or grains. This food category is known as okele in the Yoruba language, or Ụtara in Igbo language. Fufu of West Africa, ugali and nsima of Eastern Africa, sadza of Southern Africa, and asida of Northern Africa and the Middle East are examples of swallows. The term "swallow" (or "swallows") is a Nigerian English usage that refers to the way these foods are traditionally eaten: pinched off, molded into a small ball or scoop, dipped in soup or stew, and swallowed without chewing. However, this blanket term is not traditionally used by most native consumers, who almost always refer to each preparation by its specific local name (e.g., fufu, iyan, eba, ụtara, tuwo, ugali, nsima, sadza, pap, banku, etc.) even when speaking English.