How to Prepare Ekuru (White Moi Moi)

How to Prepare Ekuru (White Moi Moi)

How to Make Ekuru

In a typical Nigerian setting, you can eat Beans as a porridge or just plain. Moi Moi, on the other hand, is a popular value-added form of beans. Some call it Bean pudding; others call it bean cake. It is prepared by grinding and cooking bean paste after peeling the skin. The trendy version of Moi Moi goes with a lot of ingredients that make it delicious and colorful. However, we would be discussing the White Moi Moi, popularly known as Ekuru.

Ekuru is a meal native to people in Yoruba land. It is prepared with peeled beans just like the famous colorful Moi Moi, except, in this case, it goes with little or no flavoring ingredient. It gets its taste from the sauce it is being served with.

It is usually served with Obe ata, or you can use any sauce of your choice.

Ingredients

To prepare Ekuru, these are the ingredients you would need:

  • 360g black-eyed or brown beans
  • 1 Medium onion
  • 1 big stock cube
  • 1 tablespoon of salt
  • 600 MLS lukewarm water
  • Two cooking spoons of vegetable oil (optional)

To wrap the Moi Moi, you can choose between Uma leaves, Aluminum foils, or plastic bowls. We would be using plastic plates.

How to Prepare Ekuru

  1. Three hours before cooking the Ekuru, soak and peel the skin of beans.
  2. When you are done taking out the skin, put the peeled beans in a bowl and pour enough water to cover it. Leave it to soak for three hours. This will ensure you have the best consistency when you blend the beans.
  3. Blend the beans with the onions and crushed stock cubes. Empty it in and pour it into a big bowl that would enable you to mix properly. Please note that the total quantity of water to be used (for blending and mixing) should be 400 MLS.
  4. If you choose to use vegetable oil, add it at this point.
  5. Add the remaining water and turn the mixture at the same time till you get a perfect consistency of the bean paste and water.
  6. Add half the spoonful of salt to taste. Stir properly and set aside.
  7. Put some water in the pot, about 1cm deep and leave to boil.
  8. When the water boils, add some padding at the base of the pot. The padding could be thin wooden sticks set in a crisscross pattern at the bottom of the pot. This will prevent the wrapped Ekuru from sticking to the bottom or having direct contact with the bottom of the pot while cooking. The whole idea is to prepare the Moi Moi with just steam from the boiling water.
  9. Before this time, wash the plastic containers. Leave to dry upside down. Then take a little bit of oil in a separate plate and use it to dab the insides of the plastic plate. This process will prevent Ekuru from sticking to the plate.
  10. Stir, then scoop the Moi Moi paste into the plastic plates and gently place it in the pot of boiling water.
  11. When you are done putting the containers into the pot, place plastic bags over the wraps or containers. This will help lock the heat in. Cover the pot and start cooking on medium heat.
  12. Check the pot regularly to add small quantities of water from time to time when necessary.
  13. Note that the time taken to cook your Ekuru is dependent on the quantity and the container type. Ekuru prepared with Uma leaves gets cooked faster than those wrapped with aluminum foils or put in plastic plates. However, irrespective of the container used, it is essential that you cook your Ekuru for at least 1 hour before checking it.
  14. To know if your Ekuru is done, put a knife through it. If the knife comes out with Moi Moi to paste stained on the blade, then the Moi Moi is not ready. If the blade comes out with a slight smear, it is well-cooked. Also, another indicator to know if the Ekuru is done is that when you open it, the insides will be set and not watery.
  15. A final note to consider: If you are cooking Ekuru in minimal quantities, you may not have to cook for 1 hour. The estimate will be 45 minutes, while it will be for an hour for large amounts.
  16. Take the Ekuru out of the pot to cool.
  17. Serve with a tomato-based stew.