Banga Soup (Efere Abak Atama)

#BangainDiaspora

Efere Abak Atama (Banga Soup)

If you find yourself where you can't find fresh palm fruits then this is the best - BEST option for you and in my opinion, it works just the same(ish) as you would back home in Niaja. loads of thanks for Ghanaian producers of palm fruit pulp in a can - how much easier can it get?? this is an easy-peasy way for Banga soup and no exact measurement as I just use initiative.

1. you'll need 1 medium can of palm nut fruit puree - 'Ghana Best' brand is the best brand, if you can't find this brand then any other should do just fine. 2. cooked animal pieces (I always season my meats for soup with a mix of soup seasonings as well to add to taste - don't just end with knorr cube, a bit of chicken stock, peppersoup spice etc will up the end result - remember you won't need to add them to your final cooking but they make your meat stock richer in taste), dried fish, prawns and all else you want in 3. 1 small onion chopped, 1 medium tomato chopped, cooking cubes, salt, fresh pepper, crayfish and of course, the almighty 'atama leaves' (try to use the 'sweet' specie that way, you won't have to deal with the hard work of washing out the bitterness - as some can be very bitter to the tatste and if you have the fresh ones then all the best but I have the dried ones for obvious reasons. Also, I've never bought these in a store, I always source them from home so I can't say if you'll get the same taste if you use the ones we have in stores here as they have a ridiculous tag 'Banga Spice' - looks like a mix of different dried leaves. it could be that is what the Deltans use but I've grown up watching my mum cook efere abak atama just with 2 main ingredients - palm fruit and atama leaves plus you know, the efik way will always taste better!!!)

first take some amount of atama (banga) leaves, pour over boiling hot water and drain then leave aside (if fresh, just chop and then do same)

on medium heat, pour your puree in a pot and bring to boil, add your onion, fresh tomato, cubes (I always mix my cubes with knorr the major by breaking bits of each so use initiative if mixing all should add up to 2 cubes) crayfish, dried fish and stir, it gets thicker you will now need liquids, add your meat stock but careful just so you don't end up with a liquidy soup. when you have your desired texture, add animal pieces and your drained atama leaves - you should now have that mamazing Banga (atama) aroma. add salt to taste and fresh pepper last so to give you the best of its aroma and heat. there you go!!!