Eba or garri is a Nigerian staple food consisting of cassava flour combined with hot water. The combination is traditionally mixed with a large wooden spoon until it firms up, and is then rolled into a ball. Eba is served with almost all Nigerian soups.
It can be dipped into the soups, but it's also often served with stews and various meat dishes.
This unique, polenta-like side dish is a Tanzanian favorite, traditionally served for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Made by rolling a tiny bit of creamy, thick cornmeal paste (made from cooked white maize) in a hand until it forms into a ball, and making an indentation in it with a thumb, ugali becomes an edible spoon that is often dipped into various stews and sauces.
The sign of a good ugali is that it doesn't stick to your fingers. The whole thing is usually dipped in a savory sauce, then placed in the mouth for consumption. Ugali is more than just a taste, it is a food culture in itself. This dish is usually served with whatever meat is available, mashed vegetables, stews, or sour milk.
MOST ICONIC Ugali
Fufu is a staple side dish made by pounding cassava and unripe plantains together with a big wooden pole and mashing them while adding water. As it needs to be vigorously stirred, it usually takes two people to make it - one pounding it, and the other moving it around between the pounding.
Once the mixture is smooth, it gets shaped into small balls that are then placed in a stew or soup with meat. Similar to the Tanzanian ugali, an indentation is made in the ball, used for scooping up the sauce, with fufu acting as a spoon.
The texture is quite gummy and stretchy, while the flavor is bland, but dipping it into a stew gives fufu a spicy flavor that is slightly reminiscent of peanuts.
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Known as funge or funje in Angola and Ghana, and mfundi in Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of the Congo, it is an essential side dish accompanying breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals in many households of rural families throughout these countries.
It is a type of porridge known as swallow, made from cassava flour that is stirred into water. Funge has a sticky, smooth, and creamy texture, while a slightly bland flavor makes it great for evening out the intense spices found in many local dishes.
MOST ICONIC Funge
Nshima is a staple food in Zambia – a very thick and smooth swallow made from ground maize. It is quite similar to the Kenyan ugali and the Zimbabwean sadza. Nshima is always consumed with soups, sauces, or stews, known as ndiwo in Zambia.
The most common ndiwo dishes in the country are chibwabwa and ifisashi. Smaller pieces of nshima are typically torn by hand, and nshima is then used to scoop up the ndiwo dishes.
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Banku is a Ghanaian dish made from fermented corn and cassava dough. It is usually shaped into a ball and served with a variety of fish dishes, soups, and stews. Banku is consumed by almost all Ghanaian tribes, and can be traced back to the tribes in the Volta River region.
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Genfo or ga'at is a simple Ethiopian and Eritrean porridge that is commonly consumed for breakfast, made by adding dry-roasted barley flour or wheat flour to boiling water and stirring the concoction with a wooden utensil until it develops a smooth, yet extremely thick consistency.
The porridge is then transferred to a bowl, shaped into a mound, and a hole is created in the center, usually by using a finjal (Ethiopian coffee cup). The well is filled with clarified spiced butter niter kibbeh (it will usually be made with spices like besobela known as Ethiopian sacred basil, koseret, fenugreek, cumin, coriander, turmeric, Ethiopian cardamom, cinnamon, or nutmeg ) and berbere, a mix of chili peppers and up to 20 different spices.
MOST ICONIC Genfo
Tuwo shinkafa is a unique Nigerian dish consisting of rice flour or soft, short-grained rice and water. The combination of those ingredients is cooked, mashed, and formed into large balls. It is popular throughout the northern parts of the country, and is often served as an accompaniment to various soups and stews.
Dumboy is the national dish of Liberia. In order to prepare it, fresh cassava is peeled and boiled, while the fibers from the center are removed. The cooked roots are placed in a big mortar and beaten with a heavy pestle, then shaped into balls.
The pounding requires expertise and skill, so if dumboy is prepared by a novice, it will probably be quite lumpy and inedible. Before serving, meat stock or hot pepper soup is poured over the dumboy, along with some vegetables, because the sticky dough will adhere to anything dry if it's not consumed immediately after it's been prepared.
Dumboy is especially prized by the Mano, Gio, and Bassa people of Liberia.
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Plakali is a traditional and Ivorian dish characterized by its starchy and sticky texture. It is made by steaming and pounding cassava roots. The dish might often taste sour due to the fermentation of cassava roots before cooking. Plakali is usually consumed as an accompaniment to groundnut or palm nut soup.
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