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Smooth pounded yam from yam flour
Pounded yam is a soft, stretchy swallow (a smooth dough you pinch off with your fingers and dip into soup). Made from pounded yam flour it takes ten minutes and no pounding, and it is the classic partner for egusi or okra soup.
- 12 minutes
- Prep 2 minutes
- Cook 10 minutes
- Serves 4
Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.
Ingredients
- 300g pounded yam flour (sold as poundo yam or pounded yam flour)
Let's cook
- Bring 750ml water to the boil in a medium pan. Pour about 250ml of it into a heatproof jug and keep it by the hob. You will use it to soften the dough later.
- Turn the heat under the pan down to low. Sprinkle in about a third of the flour while you stir hard with a sturdy wooden spoon. Add the rest a little at a time, stirring all the while, until the water is soaked up and it forms a thick, lumpy dough.
- Now press and fold the dough against the side of the pan with the back of the spoon, turning it over and pressing again, for 2 to 3 minutes. This is the work that makes it smooth, so keep going until the lumps are gone.
- Make a hole in the middle of the dough with the spoon handle and pour in about 100ml of the hot water from the jug. Cover the pan and leave it on the lowest heat for 3 to 4 minutes so it steams.
- Uncover and fold and press again for 1 to 2 minutes until the water is worked in and the dough is smooth, soft and stretchy. If it is still too firm, add a little more hot water and repeat.
- Wet your hands or a small bowl with water, divide the dough into 4 and shape each into a smooth ball. Wrap each in cling film or keep them covered so they stay soft, and serve warm beside a soup.
Tips
- Stir fast as the flour goes in. Lumps form in the first minute and are hard to beat out later.
- A wooden spatula with a flat end, or a wooden turning stick from an African shop, makes the pressing much easier.
- Pounded yam firms up as it cools, so serve it straight away, wrapped.
Swaps
- Softer swallow for children: add an extra 50ml of hot water in the steaming step.
- Cheaper: use eba (made from gari) for some of the week; it goes with the same soups.
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None of the 14 allergens is in this recipe as written. Some pounded yam flours are blended with potato or other flours, so check the packet if you need it strictly gluten free.
Check every packet for allergens.