Hello foodie community. Nice to be amongst my people.lolz. Well this is my first post in this community as you can see on my dashboard, I’m not your regular foodie but a foodlum 😁😁😁.

So today I prepared one of the most popular dishes here in my country and I decided to share the progress here with my beautiful from all around the world.

EGUSI/MELON SOUP

Egusi seed comes from bitter apple fruits. They are cholesterol-free and rich in essential fatty acids, antioxidants and minerals, and possess superior medicinal and nutritional benefits.
Egusi, also known as melon is native to Africa, Asia, Arab, and some Mediterranean countries. People in Asia and the Middle East use egusi plants, fruits, and seeds to treat a variety of conditions including intestinal disorders, bacterial infections, jaundice, asthma, and diabetes.
However, egusi is a common food in Nigeria and many other West African countries like Ghana, Togo, and Cameroon.West Africans grind egusi seeds before cooking them with leafy-green vegetables, meat, palm oil, herbs and seasonings to form a thick soup.
source

How to prepare;

Ingredients

EGUSI.
Beef, Ponmo, smoked fish.
Ugwu(green leaf).
Fresh pepper.
Seasoning.
Palm oil.
Medium sized Onions.
Crayfish.
Sachet tomatoes.

Before cooking
Grind the melon with crayfish(you can do this at the market). Mix the already grind egusi in a bowl.
Set the beef and other proteins to steam at a very low heat. Remember to add the smoked fish when beef is almost ready. When ready, remove the Ponmo and dice into small pieces.

Blend your fresh pepper and chop your onions then set aside.

Let’s cook

In a large pot (depending on how much you want the soup to be) on low heat, add your palm oil in the dry pot and let to bleach a little (some people like me have soft stomach improper bleaching of the palm oil might cause stomach issues also it also helps get rid of the palm oil taste).

You can now add your already chopped onions in the oil also add your sachet tomatoes and blended peppers allow to fry well. After the tomato mix has been properly fried, add the soaked melon into the mix and stir then cover.

Little by little, add the stock into the soup and stir. You can do this for like 5mins before adding the seasoning and taste to see if everything is well balanced. Add your protein and stir.

When you notice that the oil has separated from the mix then your soup is ready. Add the ugwu (green leaf) and bring down.

The soup can go with any swallow either eba, semo, fufu, pounded yam, wheat etc. But for me, I went with eba Igbo lolz. It wasn’t easy getting it here in kwara state but determination was the key.

Heaven knows that I enjoyed the meal to the fullest as for every lump of eba I took, Ponmo went with it.

Till next time,
I still remain Trojan
Keep buzzing……
Foodlum to the fullest….

What’s the difference between this and how you make yours?
Do you enjoy this soup?
How often do you make this soup?