The best things, as some may not know, lie in what we take for granted, especially what is referred to as local. Funny enough, the very essence for which we have any sense of modernity stems from our locality: Is it the palm fronds that are used for making baskets, furniture, and bags, even footwear that we know today or special wood types from trees used for making eye-catching furniture, or the plants that have led to so many breakthroughs in the medical field? I can go on and on but I wouldn’t do that because we are here to talk about food. Funny, right? But yes, we want to talk about food and I am referring to one of the most popular, and I daresay underrated meals in the South-eastern region of Nigeria, okpa, most often referred to as okpa di oku as an Igbo slang amongst South-easterners.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the people of the Coal City (Enugu, capital of the old Eastern Region and currently capital of Enugu State) have been known to be the best at preparing okpa. It is right to say that the people of Enugu came up with the idea of making okpa as a breakfast meal before other parts of the South-east bought into it the great meal. A piece of advice though, coming from someone who has been to the five states that make up the South-east,  if you need to eat a well prepared okpa that gives that home feel and taste, just come to Enugu State. You’d thank me later.

It’s funny how okpa is so popular but many do not know that it is a by-product of bambara nut, similar to pap as a by-product of maize (corn). Bambara nuts, which are not as popular as groundnut, are being transformed into ready-to-eat meals such as okpa that is endearingly referred to as a lifesaver. You know how you just want to get to work early but still don’t want to go through the stress of going preparing a quick breakfast probably because you have early morning laziness or the kitchen isn’t just your go-to place at the moment. Well, this is where okpa comes in to save the day because you can wake up as early as 6am and you have an okpa seller at the junction just urging you to get one for yourself. It’s amazing because you just have to walk down the street or the sellers take the food right to your doorstep.

For the longest of times, okpa has been referred to as a ‘breakfast meal’ that people can easily get before they start their day, so it will be weird for one to see okpa being sold any time apart from early in the day, which hitherto restricted the nutritious meal to the morning period. To be honest, I believe that okpa can, and should, be eaten any time because it deserves to be given the proper meal attention that it deserves especially in view of its nutritional benefits.

So, let’s have a look at how to make Okpa.

• The major ingredients required for making okpa are basic, really. They include: Bambara nuts (paste)
• Pepper
• Salt to taste
• Palm oil

Meanwhile, for additional taste, which is optional, you can spice up the meal with:

• Onion
• Crayfish
• Seasoning cubes

Cooking Process

• Your bambara nut, which has been converted to bambara flour, should be measured into a clean bowl
• Pour palm oil into the bambara flour and mix it well till the oil is evenly mixed with the flour till a yellow colour paste is produced (it’s better to use your hands while mixing to get the desired texture; ensure your hands are clean)
• While mixing, make sure to knead as well to get a mouldable texture
• After mixing, pour lukewarm water into the mixture to help in obtaining a fine texture without lumps. Make sure to add enough water to get a paste consistency and mostly to avoid a hard or rocky product like when one is making bean paste (moi-moi)
• Add pepper and salt to taste (at this point, you can add other condiments to suit your palate)
• Prepare to wrap in small containers, cups, transparent bags, or preferably banana/plantain leaves due to their medicinal benefits
• Meanwhile, water should be put in a pot to boil.  It’s advisable after wrapping the paste to put it directly in a pot of boiling water in order to avoid the flour from being separated from the oil. The heat from the boiling water is required to quickly solidify the paste.
• Allow to cook for at least an hour as soon as it begins to solidify
• After an hour, your okpa should be done and ready to serve

Okpa can be served as a breakfast meal with tea, pap or oats, or indeed, as a snack with cold drinks.

Writing this article is very exciting for me because not only is okpa coming out of that stereotypical façade of being just a breakfast meal or a go-to meal, recently,  the meal is being prepared and sold at other times of the day – lunch, supper, or as in-between meals.

It is important to note that okpa is making so much waves as intentional moves have been made to export it, thanks to the large Nigerian diaspora spread particularly across Western Europe and the United States of America. Bambara nuts can now be processed and stored in containers and thus become portable. The large number of Nigerians living abroad – and is a rapidly growing number with the japa trend – is creating markets in these countries for local Nigerian foods, and in some cases, even foods such as noodles that have a peculiar Nigerian taste as well as seasoning cubes. Okpa is no exception.

Many people have attested to the nutritional benefits of okpa. Some of the proven benefits include tryptophan, lysine, valine, among others, that help in fighting against malnutrition, insomnia and also reported to improve the immune system.

The world on a daily is indeed evolving and it is important that as inhabitants of it, we also evolve with it so that we do not get left behind. With that being established, it is interesting to note that the okpa world is gradually evolving into a proper meal that is especially good for breakfast or, indeed, as a quick snack that anyone can take at any time of the day and feel a sense of fulfillment.

Ruth Chidera Echewe (Unbreakable) is a blogger and food enthusiast. She lives in Enugu State.

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