traditional Ghanaian food; yam eto (ɛto) with hard boiled egg and avocado pear.
Whiles some people do birthdays with cake, we did eto with eggs when we were growing up. My mother would make eto with eggs for breakfast during birthdays. I am not sure if it’s a “Ghanaian thing” but our neighbours and others I know, did it too.
In paying homage to all Ghanaian foods, I present to you baayer eto AKA yam eto. (Baayer for yam in fante).
If you have read from the encyclopedia I made on Ghanaian cuisine, you might have come across eto/ ɛto. Yam eto is basically mashed yam with palm nut oil. Zoe Adjonyoh makes it quite interesting and catchy by calling it golden mashed yam in her cook book Zoe’s Ghana kitchen, which fits the description.
Traditionally, asanka or ayewa with apotoyewa is used in making eto (ɛto). You can however use a masher to mash it up, doing so right when you strain the yam from fire to get fine textured eto. And to grind the onion, garlic and pepper, use a regular mortar and pestle for grinding spices, and add to the mashed yam.
So here’s the recipe for yam eto/ ɛto westernised, golden mashed yam. And if you feeling a little Ghanaian, reserve it for your birthday.
- 500g/ 1lb puna yam peeled and cut into smaller sizes
- salt as required
- water for cooking yam
- 4 tablespoons palm oil scooped from making palm nut soup or regular palm oil
- 1 onion sliced
- 1 clove garlic
- fresh pepper (bird's eye chilli, scotch bonnet, petite bell, habanero etc) as required
- to serve; hard boiled eggs and avocado pear
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Remove peels of yam, cut into smaller sizes and rinse with fresh water. Put yams into a saucepan, add salt to taste and enough water for boiling.
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Put saucepan with yams on high heat, cover tightly and cook for 15 minutes or until cooked through. A fork inserted into the yams should easily break it apart. When cooked through, drain off water and set aside.
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Whiles yam is cooking, put a small saucepan on low heat, add about 1/4 cup palm oil and half of the sliced onions. Fry on low heat till oil is softened and turn off fire.
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Using asanka or ayewa and apotoyewa, grind the remaining onions, one clove of garlic and fresh pepper till smooth. Add the cooked yam and mash till there are no lumps.
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Starting with two tablespoons of palm oil; add palm oil to the mashed yam. Use the apotoyewa to blend it together. Add more palm oil as desired. Serve yam eto with the fried onions, hard boiled eggs and avocado pear.
You can add your eggs to cook with the yam or cook them separately. I normally add them and take them out after 8 to 10 minutes. Place them in cold water to easily remove the shells.