Macaroni in Ofo Sauce

I like to experiment with Nigerian local foods and sometimes I must say I go completely out of familiar grounds. I had cooked Oha soup the previous week and used Ofo to thicken it. As I was almost finishing up my lunch , it suddenly occured to me that Ofo thickens soups and we have always used ofo for thicken soups only.  So I was wondering why not  use it to thicken some other dishes like pasta, chicken or beef. I tried it and it worked for pasta and this is how my Macaroni in Ofo sauce came about.

The thickening effect is different to that of wheat or corn flour. A noticed a bit cassava starch effect but it just worked on pasta. For those that are not familiar with this ingredient, ofo is vey similar to achi and ingredient used for thickening soups particularly in the south eastern part of Nigeria. Ofo is readily available in most local Nigerian market . The Igbo women will normally stock it.

I noticed that ofo on its own is quite bland so that’s  why I used butter to bring some oomph to the dish. Macaroni in ofo sauce will come in handy for dinner based on ease of preparation. This dish is so simple that it allows you to savour all the flavours without any one being overwhelming

 I see that some of those living outside Nigeria may have challenges getting this thickener. But some African stores in the Uk and USA do stock these ingredients.

1 cup boiled Macaroni

2 Breakfast Sausages cut in small chunks

2 boiled Eggs

1/2 teaspoon  ground Ofo

1 tablespoon Butter

1/2 cooking spoon chopped Onion

Chicken seasoning

Dry or fresh to taste

2 pinches Black Pepper

Few leaves of Patmenja

1, Cut up the sausages. Chop the onion and start boiling the macaroni

2, Heat up the butter,fry the sausages,  onion and pepper. Add the chicken seasoning, black pepper and salt to taste.

3, Lower the heat on the frying pan such that the onion, and pepper are just simmering.

4, Add 1/2 cup water to the pan and quickly sprinkle on the ofo powder and stir rapidly with a wooden spoon to blend into the water. Raise the heat a bit so the sauce starts to bubble and thickens. This could take about 2 minutes to cook well

5,Correct seasoning in the sauce , pour in the boiled macaroni and stir to mix well. Leave to simmer for about a minute. Add the Patmenja .

6, Serve hot with the boiled eggs and more sprinkle of black pepper.