Vegan Nigerian Asaro in 30 minutes
Ingredients
Tools
Yam is a big part of Nigerian identity, in fact, Nigeria is a top producer of Yams in the global market. With that said, Nigeria uses yam to create so many different ingredients. Yam is a starchy vegetable. Fun fact, my grandfather on my Dad's side used to trade yam back in Nigeria when he was growing up.
Asaro is one of my favorite dishes. I love eating this for breakfast, but asaro has no time limit. This dish is a popular dish at big parties like weddings and older birthday parties. Vegan Nigerian Asaro is easy to make, the main thing you're avoiding is the use of crayfish and beef maggie cube.
Asaro is also called yam porridge
My first memory of making this dish myself was probably around the age of 9 or 10. We still lived in Tracy Towers in the Bronx and my sister was still very young. I had requested to my mom that I wanted to have asaro for breakfast. I made the mistake of shadowing my mom make the dish, because every future asaro was made by me.
I remember vividly me taking extra precaution to chop the yam into bitesize pieces. I was chopping them in child-friendly bitesize pieces. My mom corrected me to make them larger, cube sized. I still like to make them smaller because it makes it easier to smash.
On the topic of smashing, I've never had the need to buy a potato masher, but I can imagine that an amazing asset to get a smoother vegan Nigerian asaro.
Vegan Nigerian Asaro
Total Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
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Chop
Peel your yam and cut into bite-sized squares, rinse the yam in your dutch oven pot until the water runs clear
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Season
On the stove, add your water, blended pepper, palm oil, and your spices and mix together. Cover
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Let Thicken
As your asaro starts to thicken, start to press/mash your yams to create a thick and chunky porridge. Add water in ½ cup increments if you feel that your yam is too hard
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Mash
Continually mash with the backside of a spoon. Serve immediately. You can eat this by itself or add some fried red stew on top.
Tips
- Make sure to use a paring knife to get out any impurities from the yam
- Chop your yam into disk size pieces to make it easier to peel
- Start with water in the pot before pouring the blended peppers to start the steaming process early
- You can use veggie stock instead of water
Easy One-Pot Vegan Nigerian Asaro - Yam Porridge
Course: BreakfastCuisine: NigerianDifficulty: Medium4
servings20
minutes45
minutesEasy vegan asaro recipe great for anytime of the day
Ingredients
- Into the Pot
4 cups of chopped yam
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of sea salt
2 tsp of Maggie powder (optional)
3 tbsp of palm oil
½ cup of water
- Blended Pepper
½ cup of water
2 springs of fresh thyme / ½ tsp of dry thyme
½ habenero pepper
½ bell
½ medium onion
1 clove of garlic
Directions
- Peel your yam and cut into bite-sized squares, rinse the yam in your dutch oven pot until the water runs clear
- Blend your bell pepper, habanero pepper, onion, garlic, and water
- On the stove, add your water, blended pepper, palm oil, and your spices and mix together. Cover
- As your asaro starts to thicken, start to press/mash your yams to create a thick and chunky porridge. Add water in ½ cup increments if you feel that your yam is too hard
- Continually mash with the backside of a spoon. Serve immediately. You can eat this by itself or add some fried red stew on top.
tips
- Make sure to use a paring knife to get out any impurities from the yam
- Chop your yam into disk size pieces to make it easier to peel
- Start with water in the pot before pouring the blended peppers to start the steaming process early
- You can use veggie stock instead of water
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