Nigerian cuisine

Rice is one of the most common staple foods in Nigeria. Most families eat a rice dish for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

• Jollof rice – The popular Nigerian jollof rice is made with freshly grinded pepper, tomato, bouillon cubes (locally called maggi), salt, onions and groundnut oil. A popular cuisine at festivals and social gatherings.

• Ofada rice – Ofada rice is a local heritage and traditional rice grown in south-west Nigeria, exclusively in Ogun state and particularly associated with the Yoruba tribe. It is commonly served with fried stew sauce. It's nutritious, and also served at parties and social gatherings.

• Coconut rice – Coconut rice is rice cooked in coconut milk.

• Fried rice – Popular made Nigerian fried rice is made with carrot, assorted meat, green beans, green pepper, peas, thyme, curry, groundnut oil, onions and sweet corn. It is also a popular party cuisine.

Beans are one of the most important foods eaten in Nigeria and a proteinous food eaten in Nigeria, in their sundry varieties.

• Moi Moi is a Nigerian steamed bean pudding made from a mixture of washed and peeled black-eyed beans, onions and fresh ground red peppers (usually a combination of bell peppers and chilli or Scotch bonnet). It is a staple in Nigeria regarded to be rich in protein.

• Akara, also known as fried bean cake, is prepared by grinding the mixture of washed and peeled beans, then frying the paste made from it.

• Ekuru a steamed savoury bean dish from the south-western states of Nigeria.

• Ewa aganyin boiled beans are eaten with a pepper sauce, common in the South Western part of Nigeria.

• Okpa a steamed bambara bean pudding made from the bambara bean flour. It is a common dish in the eastern states of Nigeria.

Yoruba meals are one of the popular meals eaten by most ethnic groups in Nigeria. The Native meals:

• Amala (yam-flour)
• Gbegiri (soup made from beans)
• Efo riro (vegetable soup)
• Akara (bean cake)
• Iyan (pounded yam)
• Ewa Agayin (made from beans)
• Moi-Moi (pudding beans)
• Ẹba (fried cassava flour)
• Ikokore – Ijebu-ode (made from water yam)

Hausa meals are nutritious and are the easiest to prepare among the most populous tribes in Nigeria. Here are some examples of Hausa dishes:

• Tuwo shinkafa – a Nigerian “swallow” that originates from northern Nigeria, popular among the Hausas. It is a thick pudding prepared from local rice that is soft and sticky.

• Masa – a rice cake that is from the northern part of Nigeria.

• Dambu nama – Dambu nama is a meal prepared from shredded meats. It is a side meal to masa or tuwo shinkafa.

Igbo foods are easy to make and also cherished by other tribes in the country. They include:

• Oha (white pepper) soup
• Okro soup
• Agidi and beans
• Nkwobi diverse from a town named Nkwobi
• Abacha (African salad)
• Ukwa (African breadfruit)
• Okpa
• Ona (made from three-leaved yam)
• Ede (pounded cocoyam)
• Ugba
• Ji (yam) can be prepared as porridge, white and eaten with palm oil oras Ji Awai ( water yam)
• Egusi soup
• Ofe Akwu (Banga soup) used to eat white Rice.
• Ofe Achara (Elephant Grass soup)
• Ofe onugbo (Bitter leaf soup)
• Ofe Ede (Cocoyam soup)

Popular meals There are some popular meals in Nigeria that travellers won't want to miss when they come to visit Nigeria, such as

• Edikang ikong, a popular vegetable soup that is common among the Efik people of Cross River State and Akwa Ibom State in the southeast part of Nigeria. It is best eaten with eba, fufu, Wheat or pounded yam.

• Ikokore, a traditional dish originated from the ijebu people of Ogun state and Lagos state in the southwest part of Nigeria. Ikokore is a gotten from water yam and it is eaten with cold eba.

• Efo Riro (Stirred leafy vegetable), a common vegetable soup, with each tribe having their unique style. It's a nutritious vegetable soup, made with spinach, scotch bonnets, tomatoes, peppers, meat or fish, palm oil, locust bean. It can be eaten with any local dish as well as with rice.

In Kogi State, the middle belt region of Nigeria or it could be called the north-central part of Nigeria, Okpa, Ipapa and Agugu is common among the Igala people, it's a popular meal in Kogi.

• Okpa is like a form of moin moin in which a type of bean is used to make it called Bambara bean. The preparation of Okpa is likened to moin moin but with a different type of beans.

• Ipapa is made from corn, where the corn is grounded and it's like a pottage form but not as blended like moin moin, because you still have to chew the corn.

• Agugu made from pigeon beans it is boiled & ingredients are added. The pigeon beans take very long to get soft, it could take like 3hrs to make it soft after that, ingredients are added. This is learned by the Igala a speaking part of Olamaboro town Kogi State.

• Pounded yam with Ogbono soup (Draw soup) is common among the tribes in Edo State in South South Nigeria and is a traditional meal among all tribes. It's made from yam that the pounded yam while the Ogbono is made from the Ogbono seeds (Wild Mango seed), the main ingredient: Ogbono seeds, water, oil, leaf vegetables (bitter leaf and celosia), other vegetables, seasonings, meat/ fish. It can also be found in restaurants.

Every country has its pudding and porridge meals. Here in Nigeria puddings snacks are commonly eaten everywhere.

• Puff- Puff at Donut – a very common dessert in Nigeria and can also be eaten as a snack.

• Coconut Candy – made from coconut fruit and is chewable, crunchy and candy-like. This is eaten in mostly the southwest region.

• Chin Chin – a very popular crunchy snack that is majorly eaten as a dessert. Eaten in every region of Nigeria.

• Akara (Bean Cake) – made from beans, mostly eaten in the south west and north central of Nigeria

• Meatpie – this is a common dessert eaten in every part of Nigeria.

• Donkwa – the dessert mostly common in the north by the Hausas, it's a traditional meal.

• Boiled or Roasted Maize and coconut – a dessert that can be boiled or roasted it is eaten together and is common in the south by the Yorubas.

• Nuts

• Plantain Chips

• Eggroll

• Kokoro – most commonly associated with the yoruba people. It is made from a paste of maize flour mixed with sugar and garri and deep-fried. It is commonly sold in Ogun state in Nigeria.

• Kulikuli (Groundnut Cake) – this dessert is also native to the Hausa people of northern Nigeria.

• Shuku Shuku – A dessert made from coconut.

• Kilishi – a very common meat delicacy among the Hausa people of northern Nigeria.

• Kpekere – a Nigerian dessert made from unripe plantains.

• Yoyo – some lightly crushed and fried sprats. Sprats are very active tiny oily fish. Yoyo is a very healthy delicacy containing long-chain omega 3 fatty acids which are very good for the heart and help prevent blood clotting.

• Suya is simply nicely cut beef spiced and grilled over an open flame this is common among the Hausa people and it's eaten in almost all the regions in Nigeria.

• Boli (Roasted Plantain)

• Ukwa (African breadfruit)

The seeds of the African breadfruit are also roasted and eaten as a dessert common among the Igbo people of eastern Nigeria.

In Nigeria, there are two types of porridge; the yam porridge and potato porridge. Both meals are prepared the same way.

• Yam pottage/Yam Porridge (Asaro) – Asaro which is also known as Yam pottage or Yam porridge is a very delicious Yam recipe. While it's eaten by most tribes throughout Nigeria, it is particularly consumed in the Yoruba speaking parts of the country.

• Potato Porridge – another type of porridge in Nigeria. Made from potato, palm oil, salt and spicy.

Sachet water in Nigeria is sold in most Provision stores in Nigeria it cost 10 to 20 Naira per one and a bag of water which consist of 24 sachet water cost 150 to ₦200 only depending on the region you find yourself at. In mini restaurants called Buka as the locals would say when you buy a meal in a Buka you get sachet water for free. Apart from sachet, you can also get 75ml bottled water which costs ₦150.

Coffee and tea are different beverages though in Nigeria coffee is taken more often than tea. Tea is expensive and it's taken by the elite why coffee is sold at provision stores going for around 100 per sachet. The percentage of coffee seen in Nigeria in higher than tea and it is commonly used by college students and late night workers.

Soft drink is commonly called "Mineral" in Nigeria, and is consumed almost every day, by about 90-95%. It's sold on the street, in traffic. Many people often drink soft drinks regardless of their age because it's non-alcoholic drink. Soft drinks like Coca cola, Fanta, Pepsi, la camera and many more are sold at cheap prices ranging from ₦100-150. Soft drink is taken at lunch with snacks and also served at ceremonies. In restaurants, more soft drinks are sold.

• Beer

Beer is sold in Nigeria and it's taken most by adults the drinking age in Nigeria is 18, once you are 18 you can go to the stores to get alcoholic drinks. But is advisable to drink wisely. The likes of Burukutu and Ogogoro are locally made alcohols in the northern and western parts of Nigeria and sold in other regions. In the north, they often don't drink alcohol as much but some alcohol originate from there because of their religion, it is known as a welcoming drink in the south, Ogogoro

• Burukutu

Is an alcoholic beverage, brewed from the grains of guinea corn and millet. Alcoholic beverages are often produced in Tropical African countries like Nigeria, Kenya it's a major traditional and local alcoholic drink.Burukutu is a popular alcoholic beverage with a vinegar-like flavour prepared from sorghum grains and millet. It is widely consumed as food (because it is thick and heavy in the rural areas of northern Nigeria and poor neighbourhoods because it is more affordable than commercially brewed beer.

• Ogogoro

Is locally fermented from Raffia palm tree juice, where it is known as the country homebrew because it can be made at home well it's gotten from the palm tree and then distilled to reduce the level of alcohol in it.it originates from the southern part of Nigeria

• Wine

Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Most people don't drink often but it's only on occasion. Wine varies in size, variety also there is locally made wine. Nigeria wine is known as Palm wine mostly used in the southern part of Nigeria.

• Palm wine is an alcoholic beverage produced from the fermentation of sap of different palm species. Palm wine is a sweet, milky, and alcoholic beverage. It's often taken at a beer parlour (beer parlour is a local house where alcoholic drinks are sold).

Apart, from local wine, there are commercial wines like red wine, white wine, velvet fruit wine this can be purchased in stores or malls and also online stores like Jumia, Jiji.

• Cocktails

These are occasional drinks sold at restaurants, this is drinks taken on a date with loved ones, friends and family.