Buttered Fried Garri and Tilapia Fish

I have visited most countries in West Africa and there is one common food that you find in street corners in the evenings and that is Grilled Tilapia. I was motivated to try my hands at Buttered Fried Garri and Tilapia Fish particularly for the Buttered Fried Garri. In Cote d’Ivoire this garri dish is called Atieke. It is of course prepared differently from what I have done here but the outcome is almost the same in the mouth.

I look forward to visiting a cassava frying place one of these good days. Really cannot wait to sit near the mud fireplace and stir-fry garri to a dry crispy texture. I remember sitting with my granny when I was young and scooping the freshly fried garri into my mouth. Certainly enjoyed every moment of it which looking back now was priceless.

Our most common way of eating garri is preparing with hot water and making it into a dough. With this treatment the product is known as eba in Yoruba. In the south east of Nigeria weather it is dry or wet the dish is called Garri. Buttered fried Garri is another way to enjoy this tropical carbohydrate staple.

The Ijebu Garri is the best for this Buttered Fried Garri. By the way Ijebu Garri is more fermented than the southern garri, so it has a tangy taste. I did not have Ijebu garri at home when I was making this dish so I settled for using lemon to achieve the tangy taste with the regular white garri. As I understand there are many variations to this garri dish. I will certainly like to hear from you on how you prepare yours. If you happen to buy grilled fish from the road side grills you can actually complete this meal at home by pairing with the Buttered Fried Garri.

So here I have a typical West African street food that you can enjoy at home.

Recipe for Buttered Fried Garri

1 cup Ijebu Garri (the tarty variant)

1 table spoon water

1/2 Chicken seasoning cube

Butter.

Method

1. Pour garri into a bowl add about 1/4 cup water and stir to form a crumbly wet paste.

2. Heat up the frying pan, add the butter and the seasoning

3. Add the wet garri to the butter and stir fry for about 2 minutes

4. Serve with baked or grilled tilapia and some shredded fresh vegetables

Recipe for Grilled Tilapia in oven

1. Clean the Tilapia and season with blended pepper, onion, yaji or suya peper (blend of dry ginger/hot chilli/uda) oil and seasoning cube.

2. Allow fish to marinade for about 15 minutes and roast in oven for about 20 minutes. You can then brown it in the oven grill.

3. You may want to use charcoal grill which is even better. I actually grilled in the oven because I was not in a place to grill on charcoal which is my preference.

4. Grilling with charcoal requires for you to manage the heat well so the fish does not brown on the outside but remains uncooked inside.

5. Serve the fish with the buttered fried Garri and some chopped fresh tomato, onion and pepper.