Banga is one of the most delicious soups I have ever tasted. it has the savoriness of Gbegiri but it’s in a class of it own. The soup is widely enjoyed all over Africa and it’s called different things by different groups. (Banga by the Deltans/Benins, Obe eyin by the yorubas, Mbanga by the Cameroonians, amiedi by the urhobos and obey-ekpo by the itsekiris to name a few). If you haven’t tried it yet, please do you will not regret it.
This version is a variant as prepared by the Yoruba people.
Ingredients
- 2 cups processed palm nut (I used Ghana Fresh)
- 2 cups assorted meat of choice (precooked) (I used shaki, dried fish and ponmo)
- 3 tablespoons ground crayfish
- 2 bouillon cube (Maggi or Knorr)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon bitter leave (optional)
Directions
- Set a medium size pot on below medium heat, add in the Palm nut fruit and 2.5 cups of water. stir until the water is well incorporated into the palm nut. leave to cook for 10 minutes.
- Add in the precooked meat, maggi, salt, crayfish and bitter leave . Stir again, reduce the heat to minimum, adjust the soup for water if need be at this point. taste and adjust for salt. cover the pot and leave to cook for another 15 minutes.
- There should be oil on the soup from the palm nut at this point, skim off the excess oil. Serve the soup with pounded yam, fufu or starch.
Enjoy!!!
N8ce one but to a novice, u didn’t mention anything about pounding the banga
Hi Gbemi,
I didn’t have to pound because I used canned version.
This recipe is ok. I added other leaves as well to my soup so that its not just palm nut and water and it was great. Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks for the feedback.
Hey, thanks for this. My husband has requested this but I just wondered if you knew if the starch accompaniment is available to buy in the UK?
Cassava Fufu or pounded yam.
Our people tho! But she wrote “this version is a variant as prepared by the yoruba people”…good work, tho I particularly don’t like d soup as a. nigerdelta lady once prepared it and it didn’t really go down well,might give dis a try
my dear..lol. I am almost immune to the attacks now.
Nice attempt. But as far as I’m concerned, Bangs soup is Banga soup. Just like Egusi is Egusi soup, etc. But the soup described above is not complete in itself without the Banga spices and leaves so we cannot call it Banga. I suggest you gather all information on food preparation before posting.
Ho dear! please take a moment to read the recipe.
Nice 1…
please, at what point do you remove the nuts?
After the soup is cooked. You can even leave it in the soup, but remember it’s not to be consumed.
those ingridients are not available in Europe or America. Can I substitute with other things?
Check your local African food store.. the ingredients make the soup, I cant think of worthy substitutes.
This is what I’m making for dinner right now. I love all your recipes.
Great! hope it went down well
Thank you so much for this! My hubby has been begging me to make this for him for over a year now. I’ve never cooked it before, let alone even tasted it. Your recipe looks so simple with ingredients I have! Thanks for this, going to get my chef on now :P
great! let us know how it turns out.
God bless you for this recipe. I had never heard of it and my hubby threatened to leave with any girl that cooks it for him so I better hurry and learn to cook it. Now I’m about to put my chef hat on and begin. :)
Hahahhah…. he will not leave you after eating the soup for sure
You didn’t tell us what to do with the cooked palm nuts.
Plus I know the urhobo banga soup has its own set of spice namely Otaiko,Regeje and Bele tete/Atama. in the spice shops, they already mix it together and its labeled Banga Spice. We don’t use ogiri except it’s the type used by Igbos to eat rice (ofe akwu)
And the bitter leaf (mostly properly washed and dried) is used sparingly as a spice not as a vegetable coz the typical Wafian doesn’t like vegetables in his/her banga unlike my father natives the Igbos.
Thanks for the addition
You mean the typical Urhobo man???? As it is not only people in Warri that eats Banga soup, there is life in other towns in Delta state that consists of Urhobos. Bitter leaf is not used to sprinkle in the soup rather Obeletientien leaf is what is used. Yes although the spices are blended an old school urhobo cook will get the spices and blended accordingly. I have come to realise that there are many types of Banga soups out there. But what i do not understand why all are labelled as one. As an urhobo and just like the other comment this is not the Urhobo banga soup and many will be offended saying that it is. This is just Palm Kennel, water and seasoning. Urhobo Ameidi (banga) more goes into it than that and we certainly do not use iru. However, if this is how other tribes cook theirs then is is lovely attempt.
ofe akwu in ibo…..
first boil the palm nuts till itz soft to touch(as in the flesh ohh not the nut…DUHHH??)
IN ANOTHER POT, BOIL THE MEAT WITH SALT, PEPPER, crayfish, washed dry fish, AND OTHER SEASONING U WANT TO ADD
pound the soft palm nuts softly, and extract the oil using hot water and a sieve
pour the oily liquid into ur meat stock,. and reduce to taste……..ur awesome ofe akwu is good to go…hehehe….
Thank you for the addition!!
Nice attempt but this is not the Urhobo amiedi (banga) soup..
Noted. Please do share your authentic recipe with us :)
i am hungry
pele