Prekese is originally from West Africa. Hence the tribes and various countries around West Africa have different names for the plant. For instance, Nigerians especially the Yorubas refer to it as aridan and ubukirihu while the Igbo refer to it as oshosho or osakirisa. In Twi – Ghana, prekese is referred to as prɛkɛsɛ. The English name for the plant is Aidan fruit.

Prekese or tetrapleura tetraplera is a species of the pea family and is native to West Tropical Africa. The fruits of the plant have a strong aromatic smell. There are claims that this medicinal plant can only be found Nigeria and Ghana. Several diseases can be treated with the use of prekese such as inflammation, leprosy, rheumatoid arthritis, convulsions, etc.

The plant also contains antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. Its bark, fruits, and leaves are also packed with medicinal agents.
Here are some Health Benefits of Prekese worth knowing:

 

1. Postpartum Care: The plant pod is used as a soup additive and is best served to postpartum mothers to prevent contractions. The pods are said to be packed with calcium, iron, and potassium. These three components are said to be important for postpartum women. The prekese soup is said to produce milk in lactating (breast feeding mothers) and restore lost blood.
2. Control Diabetes: According to a study conducted on rats, Prekese is beneficial for treating Type 2 diabetes mellitus. The fruit extract of prekese is said to lower glucose levels during fasting and non-fasting hours.
3. Fever: Prekese is a great remedy when one is suffering from a cold. The best way to use the plant is to soak it in warm water. Bath using the infused water. This is said to greatly relieve fever and body temperature. You can also try this remedy when suffering from enema, constipation, and emetic.
4. Acts as Mosquito Repellent: The plant has a strong fragrance and therefore acts as a mosquito repellent. The properties present in prekese are attributed to the essential oils present.
5. Wound Healing Properties: The wet extract of the plant has wound-healing agents. According to a study done at Uyo University, the low concentration (200 mg /ml) is more effective than the higher concentration (200 mg/ml). So it is recommendable to use the lower concentration of the plant to heal wounds.
6. Has Antibacterial Properties: The plant contains antibacterial and microbial agents. Because of these properties, the extract of the plant is used for making soap. The soap can be used to heal skin diseases, inflammation and bacterial infection. Apart from that, prekese can also add foam, fragrance and harden the soap.
7. Contraceptive Properties: The stem and bark of the prekese plant contain saponin and ethanol extract. These properties release a luteinizing hormone which is said to serve as contraceptives.
8. Treats Leprosy: According to a study, the aidan plant is also used in leprosy treatment. The disease greatly affects the skin, mucous membranes, and nerves which leads to lumps and skin blemishes. The more serious leprosy cases can also cause mutilation and abnormalities.
9. Management of Convulsion: The stem, fruit, and leaves of the prekese are used for creating herbal concoctions in folk medicine. This can help to manage convulsion. Studies reveal that the plant aqueous extract leads to anticonvulsant activities and affects the central nervous system.
10. Anti-inflammatory Properties: The plant extracts have anti-inflammatory agents and create an impact on several human pathogens. This can lead to lowering body inflammation, arthritis, and rheumatoid pain.
11. Culinary Purposes: The dried pod has an aromatic fragrance and is often used as a spice for adding flavor to several dishes like white soup, meat pepper soup, kernel soup, and fish pepper soup. This spice can be either crushed or broken into small portions while cooking.
12. Treats Cardiovascular System: Prekese is beneficial for the cardiovascular system because of its addition of essential phytochemicals. It can also be used for treating heart-related diseases.
13. Contain Molluscicidal Properties: According to studies, the aqueous extracts of the leaves, stalk, stem, roots, and bark of the plant have molluscicidal agents. This reveals why it serves as a pesticide for treating pests. Prekese is mostly used for gardening and planting flowers to get rid of gastropod pests like slugs and snails.
14. Dermatological Care: The prekese fruit can be dried in direct sunlight and blended into a fine powder. This extract is then used as an ingredient in soaps. It serves as a dermatological care product because of the presence of antibacterial and antimicrobial agents. The dried powdered extract can be used with other ingredients like palm kernel oil and shea butter for external use. You may look for these ingredients while looking for soaps.
15. Hypertension: The stem and bark of the plant can be used for the treatment of hypertension. Studies reveal that the plant is helpful for healing high blood pressure and check oxidation levels of hypertension patients.
16. Supports Immune System: The plant is a rich source of vitamins, iron, calcium, potassium, zinc, and magnesium. It helps in strengthening the immune system. The presence of iron in the plant help in the regeneration of lost blood, zinc provides protections against the virus that leads to respiratory tract infections, while potassium and calcium help in managing, preventing, and controlling muscle disorders and bone strengthening.
17. Treatment of Gastrointestinal Diseases: The plant can be used for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders like diarrhoea, vomiting, and stomach pain due to its presence of phytochemicals.
18. Has Antibacterial Properties: Studies suggest that the water extracts and alcohol presence of the plant can lead to staphylococcus aureus. The presence of tannins and glycosides in prekese can also help in preventing bacterial growth.
19. Hair Growth and Food: Prekese contains protein and helps to strengthen the hair and prevent breakage. It can be used as a rinse out product after washing the hair, it can also be used as conditioner or moisturizers. You can use anytime when you want to moisturise the hair. You boil the prekese and let it sit out for 2 to 5 days and then pour out in a spray bottle. Note: Some of our customers on shopnaija.co.za in South Africa and the region have bought and used it for the treatment of fibroids and/or cysts. They claim it works and were referred to use it by bloggers, a friend or acquaintance.
    How to Prepare Aidan or Prekese: The prekese pods can be broken into small pieces, boiled in a pot and the fluid extracts served hot. It could also be mixed with ginger, garlic and honey and served hot or chilled. In addition, the plant can be added to food during cooking and scooped out before serving. It is essential to add this spice to the food so that it infuses well and provides a sweet aroma.
    In herbal medicines the Aidan stem, root, leaves, bark, and pods can be mixed, boiled, squeezed, soaked, crushed, extracted, and made into concoctions.
    Now that we’ve covered prekese health benefits and discussed how great this superfood can be for everyone. We would love to hear your opinion? Talk to us in the comment box below. Or you can share this article to your loved ones to also let them know the incredible wonders of Prekese/Aidan Fruit. ShopNow: https://shopnaija.co.za/product/uyayak-prekese
    Disclaimer:
    This post is for referential purposes only and should not be treated as professional treatment or diagnosis. Always consult a doctor before making any health-related decisions. They will guide and provide the right treatment.

This article was previously published on Fashion Lady

A staple in many West African homes, pounded yam, is often paired with egusi, okra soup or stew vegetables. It can be made from scratch or made using pounded yam flour.

Below is how to make pounded yam from scratch. 

Ingredients:

Yam: It has a dark brown rough skin with off-white flesh. They can be boiled, roasted,or fried. The best place to find true yams will be the ethnic market or on our online store Shop Naija.

Water – water is the second ingredient and this is needed to boil the yam until it becomes fork-tender.

Method:

Peel the yam and cut it into small cubes.

Rinse about once or twice till you get clear water.

Boil until the Yam becomes fork-tender.

Pound or blend into a dough-like consistency until it’s completely smooth with no yam chunks left. You can pound it using a large mortar and pestle.

The amount of water you will need to boil the yam will vary depending how dry the yam is.

Making pounded yam from flour

Ingredients:

2 cups of Ola Ola Pounded Yam flour or Ayoola Pounded Yam Flour

2 cups of water

Method:

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil on a stove top. 

Whilst still on the stove top add the yam powder and mix it together using a wooden spoon. 

The pounded yam is ready when it smoothens and thickens into a dough.

The process can take about five minutes to make.

Whether you’re looking to cook more this festive season or want to try out Nigerian dishes you’ll want to try the festive fried rice recipe by Chef Lola below.

Some notes about the recipe

You can add a dash of cayenne pepper if you like some heat.

Don’t over boil your Rice before frying it, otherwise, you will end up with soggy fried rice.

Fried rice is best enjoyed when the vegetables remain crunchy, so don’t overcook your veggies.

The recipe uses mixed veggies which consist of carrots, peas, sweet corn, and green beans. However, vegetables like sweet bell peppers can also be used.

In order to achieve that nice coveted crisp, you will need to turn up the heat to high during the frying process and stir continuously as you allow the rice to heat up.

The recipe uses pieces of beef liver in the fried Rice. But if you don’t want it you are free to leave it out, you will still enjoy the total goodness of the Fried Rice with or without any protein.

When making this Fried Rice, it is best to use chicken stock or turkey stock because of the taste. The beef stock should be avoided as it can overpower the taste of the fried rice.

Most of the ingredients are available from Shop Naija

Ingredients

• 2 Cups cooked Rice
• 1 Cup Mixed Vegetables I used Carrots, Sweet Peas, Sweet Corn and Green Beans
• 1 cup Onion diced
• 2 Scallions
• 1 Cup Beef Liver Cubed/Prawns/Chicken pieces/Cooked beans
• 1/2 Teaspoon Thyme
• 1 Teaspoon Curry powder
• 1/2 cup Chicken stock
• 1 Stock cube
• 3 Tablespoons Oil for frying
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper

Method:

• Add the parboiled Rice to the stock and cook until the water is dried up.
• Preheat the oil in a pan, throw in the onions and fry for a minute or two, add the scallions, mixed vegetables, thyme, curry powder, salt, and stock Cube.
• Throw in the beef liver and rice. Stir-fry for about 3 to 5 Minutes. Take it off the heat and serve.

As part of Africa Day Celebrations on Tuesday 25 May, we decided to write recipes that you can cook at home as you mark the day. Most of the ingredients are available at Shop Naija at specials for the week. 

On 25 May 1963, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was formed 1963 in the fight against colonialism and apartheid. Africa Day is intended to celebrate and acknowledge the successes of the OAU (now the AU) from its creation in May 25 and this day is normally celebrated with music, dance and poetry

This year the theme is  “Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa we Want”.

Anyway, without wasting any time, let’s get cooking.

Jollof rice

The colourful rice is served in many West African homes  and not just Nigeria. Ingredients can include rice, onions, tomatoes, chillies and a variety of spices. It can be served with vegetables and your meat of choice. Jollof rice is commonly served on special occasions and at social events. We took a recipe from theafricacookbook.com

Ingredients

• 2 large tomatoes, grated                   
• 1 Large White Onion, diced                   
• 1 Bell Pepper, diced                   
• 1 cup frozen or canned green beans                   
• 1 celery stick, diced                   
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced                   
• 2.5 cups of chicken stock (see above for substitutions)                   
• 2 cups dry long-grain rice                   
• 1.5 tbsp. of tomato paste (optional)                   
• .25 cups of vegetable oil                    
• 2 Bay Leaves                   
• 2 tsp Sugar                   
• 1.5 tsp Paprika                   
• 1.5 tsp Curry Powder                   
• 1 tsp Salt                   
• 1 tsp Chilli Powder                    
• .5 tsp Black Pepper                   
• .25 tsp Thyme                   

Instructions

1. In a large pot, heat the vegetable oil on high heat.
2. Mix in onions, peppers, garlic, and celery. Reduce heat to medium. Stir occasionally. If you see all the oil soaked up, you can add a bit more.
3. After about five minutes, check to see if the vegetables are soft. Add the grated tomatoes, tomato paste, spices, and chicken stock (or your preferred stock subsitute). Stir together. Turn heat up to high and bring to a boil.
4. Once the pot is boiling, add the rice and green beans. Cover and bring back to boiling.
5. Once the pot is boiling again, reduce heat to medium. Leave for ten minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure nothing sticks or burns. If the rice is sticking, add more water or stock.
6. Switch off heat and let it sit for ten minutes before serving.

Notes

1. I’ve noted several substitution options in the Simple Ingredients List towards the top of the article. Not every ingredient is available world-wide, and you may also want to make substitutions to make the dish more traditionally or to make it vegetarian or vegan.

2. This is a dish that will get more complex in flavor over time, so feel free to make a few hours ahead.

Afang soup and Swallow

Originally from southern Nigeria, Afang soup is made with local Afang leaves and water leaves together with dried fish, meat and snails, as well as seasonings. It takes about an hour to prepare, and is often served with pounded yam, fufu and garri. We took a recipe from allnigeriansfood.com

Sliced fresh water leaves (1kg)

1/2 cup of ground crayfish

Ground fresh Ukazi leaves (200g)

3 cubes of knorr (sweetener)

1 stock fish head (medium size)

2 medium sized dried or roasted fish

1.5 cups of palm oil

1 cup of Periwinkles (optional)

Snails (optional)

Salt and Pepper to taste (red fresh pepper)

Pkomo (Optional)

1-2KG of any meat of choice.

Preparation

Assorted meat is the most suitable for afang soup but if you can’t find it in your location you can use any meat you find. I used a combination of assorted meat and pkomo.

Wash the snails with lime juice or grape juice and be sure it is rid of its slimy fluid. The periwinkle (isam) are usually cleaned by the sellers, you just need to wash.

The ground ukazi leaves act as a thickener for this soup, I use fresh leaves for all my soup but if you can’t find fresh stuff in your location, go ahead and substitute with the dried alternative. You can tell from the image above that the leaves are fresh.

How to Cook Afang Soup

Just go ahead and start parboiling the meat with all the necessary ingredients (2 cubes of knorr, half cup of sliced onions, salt and other spice of choice)

Some people wash the water leaves before slicing them while others choose to slice them before washing; I prefer the latter. Slice and wash the water leaves and set aside in a plastic sieve to make sure that water is properly drained away.

Most people don’t like a trace of water in their afang soup, that can be easily arranged, just try to squeeze the water leaves tightly before you add them to the soup.

Soak the dried fish with warm water, remove the center bones and wash thoroughly with just water; also wash the stockfish head with warm water. Add them to the cooking meat and cook till they are soft and the pot is almost dry. Add the palm oil, stir all together.

Add a seasoning cube, ground pepper, snails and salt to taste, allow cooking for 3-5 minutes.

Add the water-leaves; allow to simmer for 5 minutes before adding the periwinkles, ground ukazi, and ground crayfish

Stir all together, cover the pot and allow simmering for another 5 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes.

That is how to prepare afang soup, it can be served with fufu, eba, pounded yam, wheat. Any nice soft drink would be a welcome addition.

Pepper Soup

The intensely spicy flavour of the pepper soup is among the nation’s favourite dishes. It can be cooked with a  variety of meat.. The broth is rich, with aromatic spices, pepper, ginger, garlic and onions to give it that unforgettable taste.We took a recipe from demandafrica.com

Ingredients

• 2 pounds chicken / catfish / cow leg / offal
• 4 seeds Calabash nutmeg (Ehiri/Ehuru) (ground)
• 3 cubes Maggi seasoning
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 2 medium onions
• 2 tablespoons Scent leaves (dry uziza leaves)
• Red chili pepper / habanero pepper (to taste)
• Salt (to taste)
• 1/2 gallon water (approximately)

1. Wash and prepare chicken, goat meat, offal or cow leg.
2. On medium-high heat, place meat into the pot and add water to reach the level of the contents of the pot.
3. Add Maggi cubes, garlic, onions, and ground spices.
4. Add chili or habanero peppers and salt to taste.
5. Cook on medium-high heat till meat is tender and cooked through.
6. Add scent leaves for a sweet aroma and flavouring. Cook for two minutes, and the pepper soup is ready.

Nigerian Pepper Soup is best served hot with agidi or white rice or boiled yam, whichever you prefer.

Egusi soup

A widely consumed soup. You can serve this Nigerian soup with pounded yam, amala, eba, tuwo or any other swallow of choice. There are various egusi soup recipes as the ingredients used in cooking it also vary. We took a recipe from my active kitchen blog for a recipe that can be ready under 40 minutes.

Servings: 8

Author: Ajoke| My Active Kitchen

Ingredients

• 12 pieces smoked turkey grilled
• 3 smoked mackerel fillets
• 2 cups ground melon (egusi)
• Nigerian Pepper mix I used a combination of 2 red bell pepper, 2 scotch bonnet and 1 large onion, reserve little chopped onion for later
• 1 cup palm oil
• 1 tbsp locust beans (Iru woro) substitute with ogiri or dawadawa
• 1 tbsp ground crayfish use more if desired
• ⅓ cups dried prawns washed use more if desired
• 2 bouillon cubes
• cups chopped spinach washed
• 1 cup beef stock (optional, I used this because I had it in the fridge)

Instructions

1. Add ground melon to a bowl, add about a cup of water and mix to for a paste then set aside
2. Place a big pan on medium heat, add palm oil and heat for about 3 minutes (Do not bleach oil) add the reserved chopped onions and Sautee till translucent
3. Add pepper mix, locust beans and stir to combine. Bring to boil for 5 minutes.
4. Add the egusi paste in bits to pepper, reduce the heat, do not stir and cover the pot with a lid. Cook for another 10 minutes.
5. Remove the lid, and gently stir the soup. The egusi would be lumpy at this point, use the back of a ladle to break it into desired size/texture
6. Add smoked turkey, ground crayfish and crayfish, beef stock (if using) and stir to combine. Add bouillon cubes, taste and adjust accordingly. I didn’t add salt to this soup as the smoked turkey and mackerel already contained salt.
7. Continue to cook for another 10 minutes, check at interval and stir to avoid burning if need be
8. Add shredded smoked mackerel and gently stir into the soup. Add chopped spinach, stir to combine and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes. Take if off the heat, allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving

Notes

• Substitute spinach for any other green leaves of choice
• Swap smoked turkey for beef or goat meat or chicken or fish
• Stockfish can be used to substitute smoked fish used in this recipe. If you will be using stockfish, ensure it is washed in hot water with salt. rinse clean to get rid of the debris before adding to the soup.

This article was previously published on NigeriansInSouthAfrica