How to cook Nigerian Groundnut Soup

How to cook groundnut soup

Groundnut soup, also known as peanut soup, is one of those soups you look forward to after a long stressful day. Native to the Bini’s, this dish is easy to cook and delicious as well. I remember back then, in my undergraduate days at the University of Benin, I had a friend in my hostel who enjoyed groundnut soup. Whenever I came back from a long lecture, she was generous to share her meal with me, and that was how I learnt how to cook it. Groundnut soup, also known as peanut soup, is known to be nutritious and can be eaten with any kind of swallow.

INGREDIENTS

The following ingredients are used when cooking groundnut soup for a family of six:

• 2 cups of roasted groundnuts
• 250g of cow skin/kpomo
• 500g of beef
• 2 tablespoons of palm oil
• Dry fish
• 2 tablespoons of Crayfish
• Bitter leaf
• 2 bulbs of onions
• 1 tablespoon of Black pepper
• Maggi crayfish cubes
• Uda or uziza seeds
• Dry Efirin leaves or basil
• Salt

PREPARATION

The cooking procedures are as follows:

1. Wash the beef and cow skin with water and salt. put in a pot and season with salt, crayfish cubes and onions. Cook until it is tender. I usually buy soft cow skin because the hard ones tend to take a longer time to boil.
2. The dry fish should be deboned and washed to remove dirt. This can then be put into a pot of boiling meat and cooked for 10 minutes.
3. While this is cooking, blend the roasted groundnuts in a blender till it is smooth. Pour in a little water and add the remaining bulb of onions (already chopped) and the uziza seeds. Blend until it becomes a paste.
4. When this has been achieved, pour slowly into the pot and stir. If you notice the soup has become too thick, add water to make it less thick but not too watery.
5. Add the powdered crayfish, black pepper, and two tablespoons of palm oil. It’s very important not to add too much oil to this soup because the groundnut itself has its own oil. So you would want to keep it minimal.
6. Let this cook for about 5-10 minutes, then add the soaked bitter leaf and efirin leaves. A little bitterness from the leaf gives the soup a sweet taste after swallowing. However, if you cannot get bitter leaves, you can also use pumpkin leaves or spinach.
7. Check for salt; if it is not tasty enough, add one cube of Maggi crayfish and salt. Stir and let it cook for a few minutes.
8. Bring the pot down and serve with any swallow of your choice.