How to make banga soup

Ingredients:mind you this is for delta state.

These are what you will need to make this recipe, though this list looks exhaustive, I  assure you that it would be worth it in the end.

Canned palm nut fruit concentrate: substitute it for fresh palm fruit if it is available to you

Banga spice (you can buy a ready mix or simply make your own by blending Ataiko and Irugeje in a dry mill)

Beletete leaves: substitute with dried basil, bitter leaf or dried scent leaves

Oburunbebe stick: You can be forgiven if you can’t source this from outside Nigeria

Fresh catfish steaks, washed, gutted, any other fresh fish would work for this recipe too
Assorted beef: In Nigerian context, assorted beef is referred to as meat offal, eg. Tripe (shaki), lungs, liver, cow leg etc
Fresh ShrimpsGround crayfish: substitute with dried shrimps
scotch bonnet chilli: While yellow scotch bonnet is recommended, I just used anyone available to me.
Dried cod (panla): substitute with smoked fish
Periwinkle (optional)
Seasoning cubes and beef stockSaltWaterOnion

                                   HOW IT IS MADE

Season assorted beef and dried fish with salt, onions, seasoning cubes, add water and bring to boil till tender. (Separate meat from stock and reserve stock)

Place a large pan on medium heat, add palm nut fruit and dilute with warm water double of the amount of palm fruit used. I used 800g of palm fruit so I added 1.6ltr of water to the pan. You can add any tough beef at this point, this will help soften it more and the flavour infuses as well



Stir till well combined and bring to boil for about 20 minutes. Don’t cover the pan with a lid at this point as it would boil over. Put a wooden spoon across the pot to stop this from happeningAt this point, you will see the palm fruit extract bubbling and starting to thicken, and the oil floating on top of the soup

Add blended scotch bonnet, assorted beef, periwinkle and cook for another 10-15 minutes

Add Banga spice, oburunbebe stick, ground crayfish and cook for another 10 minutes. The Banga spice adds a very rich aroma to the soup and you can just smell it. Check for salt and seasoning, dilute the soup with reserved stock if it is too thick. (Stir in between to avoid soup sticking to the bottom of the pan)

I left the fresh catfish until the tail end of my cooking because it doesn’t take time to cook at all.

Add fresh fish and shrimps to the soup, add the beletete leaves or bitter leaf and leave to cook on low heat for another 10-12 minutes. (if you need to stir at any point after you have added the fresh fish, you will need to be careful or you can simply hold the pan on its 2 handles and give it a little twirl)

f you want, you can scoop out the floating oil and use it for another Nigerian local dish

Your soup is ready to be served with starch,Eba, fufu, pounded yam or any other swallow of your choice.