For most people, Africa is a mysterious place with lush treats, vast varieties, and yummy native delicacies. An important place filled with delicacies is Nigeria. Nigerian foods have essentially created a unique diet pattern influenced by the western African cuisines culture.

Different parts of Nigeria are cradles of delicacies, where you can enjoy local and world-class meals blended with different flavors. While most restaurants in the country are exploring different ways to match the taste of first-class gourmets, typical foods including Nigerian Jollof, Pounded yam, Amala, and other local delicacies are highly desirable and tasty. Here is a concise list of some interesting Nigerian foods.

Jollof rice

Jollof rice is a rice meal ubiquitous among West African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Liberia, etc. Thanks to the preeminent rivalry between Ghana and Nigeria (Nigerian vs. Ghana Jollof) over which variation of the meal tastes better. This has fueled several creative recipes for the meal. However, it’s primarily made by cooking rice in a lump of meat or vegetarian sauce.

“A party is never complete with no Jollof rice,” basically, the meal is prevalent on both special occasions and regular diets. To spice it up, it’s often garnished with onions, tomatoes, carrots, prawns, and green beans. Also, you can eat it with salads, chicken and fried plantains. Interestingly, to celebrate our Nigerian users, Dopamine have created a Nigerian jollof-themed NFT.

Moin Moin (Steamed Bean Cakes)

If you have visited any type of restaurant that offers Caribbean cuisine, you are probably already familiar with this meal. Moin Moin is a staple food among Nigerians made from baked beans. Also, it consists of ground beans with sauces including onions, oil, ground peppers (chili, bell pepper, and Scotch bonnet). 

It is often enjoyed as a side meal and goes perfectly well with Jollof rice, Pap, as well as boiled plantains, and more. A well-prepared moin-moin provides proteins, carbohydrates, and an excellent calorie return cost-wise.

Corn varieties (Akamu)

Corn has been an essential diet for Nigerians. They bake corn, soak it, and grind it to a fine powder to cook their favorite corn varieties, including Akamu (Pap), swallows, and lots more. When having breakfast, you can enjoy Akamu with milk, sugar, or honey. Also, it’s often taken with moin moin, Ankara (bean cake), etc.

Pounded yam and Egusi Soup 

Nigerians don’t joke with swallows, haha. Similar to mashed potatoes, pounded yam is a bunch of yam pieces pounded manually with a mortar and pestle or automatically done with a blender. The process produces a fine, sticky dough (different from mashed potatoes). It goes well with egusi soup (made from edible melons).

Egusi is one of the most popular Nigerian foods made from melon seeds that are finely ground to give this dish a unique color and flavor. It’s often spiced with palm oil, shrimps, smoked fish, crabs, and other proteins, including chicken, smoked oysters, etc.

Abula (Amala and Ewedu)

A lunch without Àmàlà in the southwestern part of Nigeria is incomplete. It has different variations: yam flour (àmàlà isu), cassava flour (àmàlà láfún), and plantain flour (àmàlà ogede); however, yam flour is the most popular. Made from peeled and dried yam pieces, blended into a powder, Amala is black in color and offers vitamins, iron, and calcium. 

You can chiefly enjoy this meal with ewedu (jute mallow soup) or any other soup like okra and vegetables.

Agege Bread

This is a typical white bread brand made in Agege city Lagos, specifically known for its soft and chewy texture. It’s widely eaten with beans, egg sauce, fish sauce, and other protein sauces.

Final thoughts

Overall, these are a few of the native African delicacies you can enjoy in case you want to try out some Nigerian dishes.