EGUSI STEW
Published Oct 20, 2017
Updated Sep 26, 2018
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Welcome to your new favorite stew! Egusi stew!! This stew is luscious, full of flavor and absolutely to die for. I love having it with boiled rice or boiled plantains. So tasty!
If you are not familiar with the word, Egusi is a seed which is basically the same thing as pumpkin seeds but its white variation. It is also known as melon seeds. Egusi is widely enjoyed in West Africa. It is mostly used to make a variety of soups or sauces.
In Cameroon, one popular Egusi delicacy is this delight called Egusi Pudding. Egusi is also used to cook vegetables or added to okra soup and ogbono soup.
IÂ always love having egusi at home. I mean, I just feel this sense of security when there is some egusi lying in my cupboard because of the varied ways I can use it. The dimension of taste it brings to food is unbeatable! Egusi for president!
This is not your average egusi soup. Let’s talk about this egusi stew for a moment. It is:
- Luscious
- Garlicky
- High in nutrients (egusi is high in protein!)
- Easy to make
- Savory
- Luscious (did I say this already?)
Serve your egusi sauce over boiled rice for a delightful meal. Actually, this goes well with plantains too: boiled or fried. And it is great with boiled yams too! It is just an all-round really good stew!
I used beef in this egusi stew recipe but you could make egusi stew with chicken, egusi stew with fish or even egusi stew with turkey. The world is your oyster, baby!
I made a video to show you how to make Egusi Stew on my YouTube channel: YouTube.com/preciouskitchen. Be sure to subscribe to my channel so you never miss any of my videos.
Watch How to Make Egusi Stew:
Egusi Stew
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups ground egusi
- 6 large tomatoes - chopped
- 1 medium onion - chopped
- 1-2 stems green onions - chopped
- 5 cloves garlic - peeled
- 1 inch ginger - peeled
- 1 habanero pepper (optional)
- 2 cubes Maggi (4g per cube)
- 1 cup oil
- 1/2 pound beef - cut into pieces and boiled with salt also reserve the beef stock for use in this recipe
- 1 teaspoon salt - adjust as needed
Instructions
- Blend together garlic, ginger and half of the green onions then set aside.
- Pour oil into a pot and heat on high for about 4 minutes.
- Add in chopped onions and let it saute for 3 minutes until translucent. Be sure to stir from time to time.
- Add in chopped tomatoes and let it cook until the tomato shrinks and starts sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Add in ground spices (garlic, ginger and onions) then stir for about 2 minutes. This brings out the flavor of the spices.
- Add in ground egusi (with no added water) and mix well. Keep mixing for about 5 minutes (some egusi will stick to the bottom of the pot - that's okay!)
- Add in beef with stock. Then add in more water (I added about 1 cup) to get the desired consistency. I always make my stew a little lighter than I would want it at this point because as it simmers, a little of the water dries up. Add salt, seasoning cubes and habanero pepper (gorund or whole according to preference - I normally add it whole with stem on so the heat doesn't get to every part of the food.)Mix well, cover pot and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add in green onions, stir well and turn off the heat.
- Enjoy with boiled rice, plantains or any starchy side of choice.
Notes
Nutrition
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If you make this recipe, please share a photo on Instagram and tag me: @preciouscore, or share a photo on my Facebook page. I’ll love to see!
what is maggi, can I substitute umami in it’s place
Hi Rene, Maggi is a salty seasoning usually added to West African dishes. Not sure if umami will work well here. You could substitute with bouillon powder.
Wow! Xo nyc i prepared it for my aunt in school and she really enjoyed it pls keep it up. I will always check in for ur posts
Thanks for the great feedback!
Made this tonight and it was amazing. The only changes to the recipe that I made was that I didn’t add the habanero pepper and I added an extra maggi cube.
So glad you loved it, Zaire!
Hi Mama precious I would really love to try the Egusi soup recipe my fiance is from Nigeria and I’m a South African and helices his west African food too much I know how to cook few but if it’s Egusi phew I always fail..thank you so much for the recipes.
You are welcome, Thabile. Hope you succeed with this recipe.
Hello. How do I knlw when my egusi soup is ready?
Thanks for the egusi recipe
You are welcome.
I really enjoyed ur recipe . Thank you for sharing with us
You’re welcome Brandy.
Thanks so much For the Egusi stew recipe Previous…
Guess I got a perfect pick to prepare my date… Thanks
My fiance is from Cameroon and i am from US and I love egusi with garri or wheat😋 There are no African restaurants near me and I have been craving egusi with beef, This recipe looks lovely and i will try it, Thank you! I will also learn to make eru.
You are most welcome, Amber! So glad to help.
Can I substitute melon with pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds?
Which is more suitable, if all.
Pumpkin seeds. I think eggs is actually pumpkin, not melon seeds though we use the terms interchangeably. You should preferably get the white ones from an African store. Hope this helps.
Can we use the pumpkin seeds left from Halloween pumpkin carving?
Hi Jenny, I’m not sure if those would work because I haven’t tried it yet.
Also, you’ll have to deshell every one of the pumpkin seeds and that could take a while.
I have used raw pepitas before though and it works well.
Egusi soup for the win!
I love it and this one here is calling my name.
Missed this site and loving the new look here, sis.
Aww thanks sis!
Thanks so much for this egusi recipe, I always follow up your posts and I love it. Keep it up
Thanks so much, Quinta!
Yes egusi soup is so tasty, yummy.
So tasty, dear. Thank you.
Hehehe, Precious I love egusi soup. It’s the easiest soup to cook that always comes to my rescue and it’s economical too. You know what! Coincidentally I just finished eating my last portion of egusi soup that I prepared.
http://dominikagoodness.blogspot.com.ng
Haha what a wonderful coincidence! Yes it is so easy and cost effective. Thank you dear.