AFRICAN DELICACY: EGUSI SOUP

Hello fellow steemians,

one of the things i enjoy doing alot especially with my spare-time is cooking. I enjoy cooking cuz it helps relieve me of stress, i also get to try out my own recipes and it's fun and also a time killer.
Alright with that been said, today i decided to make one of Africa's most popular soup; "The Egusi Soup".

THE EGUSI SOUP:

Egusi soup also known as melon seed soup, is a healthy and easy dinner recipe made with a variety of vegetables, this meal is enriched with nature's earthly goodness and will definitely leave you licking your fingers.
This is what an egusi/melon seed looks like;

THE INGREDIENTS I USED IN PREPARING THIS SOUP ARE:

3 cups of egusi (melon)
Dry fish (two medium sizes)
1 cup of grounded crayfish
red meat
1 cup of Grounded Osu
washed bitterlaef (onugbo)
4 cubes of knorr
250ml of palm oil
About 2 liters of water
Salt and pepper to taste.
One medium size Stock fish head (okporoko)
opkei (local ingredients)

THE PREOCEDURE I USED IN PREPARING THE SOUP:

After grinding the three cups of egusi with a dry blender, i set it aside in a bowl. I added about a cup of water to it and stir to make a very thick paste. like this;

when preparing bitter-leaf, be sure that the bitter-leaf (onugbo) is properly washed, it is advisable to remove over 95 percent of the bitter taste, it involves washing and squeezing the bitter leaves for several minutes in a very big bowl.

But i bought the already-washed bitter-leaf from the market. I boil the already prepared bitter-leaf alone for about ten minutes, this would further remove the bitter taste and serve other purposes.

Parboil the meat for about ten minutes, then add water and cook till the meat is tender and the stock (water) is about to dry. I used two cubes of knorr, curry and thyme, a teaspoon of salt and half cup of sliced onions to parboil the meat.

I soaked the dry fish and stock fish in a bowl with hot water to soften it and wash thoroughly to remove sand and center bone, tear open the head of stock fish and wash, after which i set it aside.

Here is the actual making of Nigerian egusi soup with bitterleaf.

Add 250ml of palm oil (red oil) to an already set cooking pot in the fire, allow to heat for a minutes but don’t allow to bleach. Add the egusi paste and keep stirring for the next eight to ten minutes to form seed-like crumbs.

Then transfer the already cooked meat into the pot, stir, add the washed dry fish, stock fish, ground crayfish, 2 cubes of knorr, 3 cups of water. then cover half way and allow to boil for the next ten to fifteen minutes.

Stir occasionally to avoid burning.

At this point add one cup of ground osu.

Add the already washed bitter-leaves (onugbo), one spoon of ground okpei (local ingredients), taste for salt and pepper.

Allow to boils for five to ten minutes, turn off the gas and you just made a delicious egusi soup.

I enjoy eating my egusi soup with either Semolina or Eba .

I do hope you enjoy cooking as much as i do.
Thanks!