How to cook Puree Ugba Sauce

Puree Ugba Sauce

 

Today its a vegetable protein packed dish and this is Puree Ugba Sauce. I love eating this sauce with plantain or old yam. But I must say Ugba is an aquired taste.

Since we are in the Christmas season I want to talk a bit about weight. To be honest I have hardly had cause to struggle with my weight and that’s because I have learnt to control my food portions. And generally eat sensibly from all the food groups.But occasionally after a nice holiday I find my self putting on 2-3 extra kilos . The Christmas holiday is round the corner and many of us are likely to overdo things a bit over the holiday.

So to help drop the weight I reduce my carbohydrate intake during the day and reduce dinner.  Some times  I stick to proteins and stir fried veggies.  I simply watch my weight drop gradually to a healthy point in a week or two.  Getting rid of 10 extra kilos is difficult to say the least.  Do try to drop the kilos when its still single digit. I will advise to get a good bathroom scale and check your weight say once in a week to keep it within tolerable limits. Please refer to my meal plan suggestions on healthy options to choose from for when you are trying to loose weight.

For today, it’s another meal packed with proteins from Oil beans seeds, called Ugba in Igbo and Ukana in Efik. Puree Ugba Sauce is one of my mother’s dishes and has come to be mine also . Oil bean  grows more commonly in the south east of Nigeria but sliced Ugba is commonly found in many Nigerian open markets. Ugba is also used for abacha. Let me say that this dish is for more developed palates particularly if you are not from the east.

Recipe for Puree Ugba Sauce

Ingredients
11/2 cups Ugba( soft type)
4 pieces Garden Egg( green or white type)
2 cooking spoons Palm Oil
4-6 pieces Scotch Bonnet Pepper( blended)
1 whole Onion(blended)
8-10 pieces Smoked Shrimps(dressed)
Pieces Smoked Fish
1 tablespoon ground Crayfish
Crayfish Seasoning cubeto taste
Salt to taste

Method
1, Blend the Ugba into a smooth purée using about 1/4 cup water
2, Blend the pepper and onion and also set aside
3, Steam the smoked fish and shrimps in a little water. Do season with a little dry pepper and little chopped onion for about 3 minutes to soften the fish and shrimp.
3, Heat the oil and fry the onion and pepper blend,crayfish powder and pour in the steamed shrimp and fish with the little stock
4, Add crayfish seasoning and salt to taste and fry the sauce until dry and the sauce is cooked.
5, Add the Ugba and garden egg,lower the heat and cook for about 5 minutes

Kitchen Tip: 1, Cut your Plantain into rings and boil in the skin. Your can start boiling the plantain whilst blending the ingredients.
2, To soften the garden egg for use in the sauce, wash and cut them into desired shapes, wrap in kitchen foil and place in the plantain pot and they will soften by the time you are ready to add to the sauce.