Cotton Seed Soup – Obe Koowu

Cotton seed soup – Obe Koowu
Hollandaise, Ankara, Abada… All of the west African cotton prints. We wear them as wrappers, long skirt and blouse, dresses and so on. Fashion designers in Europe are even copying these designs with pride or simply using these fabrics as is. To think that Nigerian textile companies were booming at some point in Nigeria’s history with the manufacturing of these textiles locally, with cotton coming out the cotton pyramids in the north ….. Those were the days.
Cotton Pyramids might have disappeared in northern Nigeria but cotton seed soup continues to be cooked in Ondo state of Nigeria. My confession … I was wondering what could come out of the cotton covered black seeds when I picked them up from the market. A male colleague had gone on and on about Obe Korowu or Koowu depending on which part of Ondo state you come from. He insisted that I feature this soup on the blog. When I had finished cooking and tasting I saw what he was on about. He even supplied the recipe..some food enthusiast for a man.
When I finally got to cook the soup, I made sure I took some to Bola to taste at work and he gave his nod. My confidence to share the recipe comes from me having  standardized  recipe. Koowu  is pretty easy to cook once you can pound and sieve out the juice from the cotton seed. I actually used my blender after pounding for a bit to reduce the pressure on my blender.
Sure cotton seed may not be found in your regular neighborhood  market but it is surely available in big markets. I actually bought it where herbs are sold. As always female retailers can always tell you which section of the market you can get it from. I took to liberty to add some Effirin, my twist to this soup.
Some dishes are not just great looking and this is one of them , but trust me what they lack in looks is compensated for by the taste. If you like Banga  or Atama soup, you will like Obe Koowu
I paired my soup with smoking hot pounded yam ..Chai!

Recipe( serves 4)
Ingredients
8 pieces Beef
4 pieces Pomo
Handful smoked fish
Handful smoked shrimps
4 cups Cotton seed
Dried Pepper to taste
1 finger Ginger
2 pods Asama ( de seeded )
1 table spoon Iru
1 table spoon sliced Effirin( optional)
Crayfish seasoning to taste
Salt to taste

Method
1, Wash and soak the cotton seed overnight
2, Strain seeds add. Ginger and asama seeds pound   dry or blend the seed with water
3, Add some warm water to the pounded seed , mix well and squeeze out and sieve the cotton seed milk and set aside
4, Season and cook the beef and Pomo.
5,When meat is cooked add dry prawns, some more pepper  if needed, seasoning and Iru and cook for about 2 minutes and taste to further correct the seasoning
6,Add the oil and cook for 5 minutes
7, Add the cotton seed milk and few slices of effirin and cook till soup thickens just like Banga soup. It takes about 5 – 10 minutes to thicken.
8, Serve hot with swallow of choice.