You may have read by post on Vegetable Fortified Nigerian Starchy Solids. If you haven’t read it, click HERE. Anyways, as part of the playful exciting banter Remmy Tewogbade and I had over Facebook, the thought of Orange Eba was born. We went back and forth over colouring Eba, to the point I googled a vegetable colour chart and I was ticking off colours. Oh, I have so many ways to colour any of our pale or white coloured Nigerian starchy solids, Remi suggested a rainbow coloured Eba. Watch this space. We have ticked off green, red, pink, yellow, orange, brown and purple. You can join in the fun too by suggesting colours and what vegetables would help create those colours. The possibilities are endless.
When Remi posted her Red Eba that night, she said she was hoping it would be a little more red instead of Orange. I told her that to get it more red, more tatashe (red bell pepper), would need to be added and that would influence the natural taste of garri. The idea behind this new found exciting way of colouring starchy solids is to still keep the natural taste intact, but enhance its visual appearance. Mind you, I was having this conversation till 2am. I can talk about food till the cows come home. I finally forced myself to get off the computer and go to sleep and I swear, I was dreaming in colour that night. I even thought of so many extra ways of adding colour to a few things that are not Nigerian Starchy solids, but I would hold those close to myself for my recipe book. Too innovative to let it out now. I have already started compiling stuff to go into the book, including buying a very well recommended book on How to Write a Cookbook. As my Father says, while you wait for The Almighty to open doors for you, in the way only He can, make sure you are standing in front of the doors ready and prepared. Praying without action is a waste of The Lord’s time. Loooool. So, those of you waiting to see a cookbook, let us all pray and send thoughts out together in agreement. The power of multiples, is one thing I believe strongly in. Everytime you visit the blog, please spare a thought in prayer for The Dooney’s Kitchen Cookbook. Re-inforce it. I can see it in my minds eye already, I see it every day, the glossy pages and hardcover, I can almost smell it. I want to publish one that badly.
Anyways, back to The Orange Eba. I was in an Asian food store on Saturday, with a list of things to buy. Garri was definitely not on it as I had Garri at home. I walked past Yellow Garri and suddenly stopped in my tracks. It was as if someone dropped something on my head. Of course, Yellow garri would give that perfect very appealing and pleasing to the eye Orange Eba. Yellow + Red = Orange. Quickly, I grabbed yellow garri off the shelf and couldn’t wait to try it. Try it on Monday I did. You should have seen how my eyes widened with joy when the Eba turned Orange. Yipeeeeeeee. I deliberately left some shaggy bits of the tatashe (red bell pepper) for colour contrast, as orange and red can be a fab combination. I also left it in, to allow anyone who sees a picture of The Orange Eba to almost guess what went in it to give off that colour. The Tangerine shape also helps in its appeal. I posted this on Instagram and Facebook yesterday, and took a mini survey of some sort. People seem to prefer this Orange Eba to the Green Eba. Another survey I also took was about the Green Eba. I asked if people would rather chop the vegetables and add to their starchy solid or blend it. It seems the chopped version is winning. Whichever you choose, I hope you have fun with it. Here’s how I made this
This is Remi’s version
White Garri also gives you that Orange colour, but it is more pronounced with Yellow Garri.
You will need
Tatashe – red bell pepper
Hot Water
Yellow Garri
How To
1. Get out the Yellow Garri from the cupboard
2. Heat up water and blended Tatashe (red bell pepper) in a pot, bring it to a boil. To make it look less shocking, I decided to blend the tatashe leaving a little flecks of the skin of the red bell pepper, so you don’t wonder if the Eba was coloured with food dye. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: Boiling the water with the tatashe also allows the tatashe to cook a little, just so you don’t get that raw tatashe taste. Believe me, this tastes just like Eba, so don’t worry, you wouldn’t be losing out on flavour by adding tatashe.
Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: Alternatively, you can chop the tatashe (red bell pepper) in tiny pieces and add to the starchy solid whole, just as I did with Kale fortified Oatmeal (click HERE). It all depends on you. Any type of veggie you wish, you can chop and add to your starchy solid. Remember, you saw it here first. Lol
3. Pour the red bell pepper and water mixture into a bowl, sprinkle over the yellow garri
4. Turn with a wooden spoon. As you do, you will notice the garri changing in colour from Yellow to Orange.
Ta dah………….Here’s Orange Eba
Take it to the next level by forming it into the Tangerine Shape, the colour, the shape, how cute is that? To learn how to form it into the tangerine shape, click HERE
Would you be willing to try this? Imagine serving this with Okro or Vegetable Soup like I did.
The contrast of colours. Simply Beautiful.
So, people, would you give this a go? The colour looks very pleasant to the eye. There is something about Orange that you warm up to (pun intended).
Picture Courtesy: Remi Tewogbade. She is on the active pursuit of the brown Eba. Although I told her Amala already covers brown, but she is determined. I already have another idea of how to get brown in, but will keep that hush hush for now. Lol
Green vs Orange Eba, which is your preferred choice?
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