A thick, hearty soup made from ground melon seeds cooked with leafy greens, tomatoes, smoked fish, and palm oil. The melon seeds give the soup a rich, nutty body.
Ingredients
1 cup ground egusi melon seeds
1 lb spinach or amaranth leaves
200g smoked fish
3 tomatoes blended
1 onion chopped
3 tbsp palm oil
1 scotch bonnet pepper
2 cups stock or water
salt to taste
Instructions
1Heat palm oil in a pot, saute onion until golden.
2Add blended tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes.
3Mix ground egusi with a little water to form a paste, add to pot.
4Add stock, smoked fish, and scotch bonnet, simmer 20 minutes.
5Add chopped leafy greens and cook 10 more minutes until wilted. Season with salt.
Did You Know?
Egusi seeds are so valuable in Benin that farmers specifically cultivate the melon variety grown only for its seeds, not its flesh.