The world is full of good food. Food is any substance eaten to provide and supply nutritional support for an organism. Most types of food in Nigeria is often made from plant or animal and contain vital nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals.

Liquids used for energy and nutrition are often called “drinks“. Food is eaten by living things to provide energy and nutrition for their growth and development. Simply put food is what humans and animals eat in order to survive; it contains the nutrition that people and animals need to be healthy and stay alive. The consumption of food is palatable and enjoyable to humans.

TYPES OF FOODS IN NIGERIA

The food humans eat is mostly produced by an agricultural process which is farming or gardening. It includes animal and vegetable sources.

THE BASIC FOODS CONSUMED BY HUMANS:

  •    Plant-source Animal source
  •    Fruit
  •    Vegetables
  •    Grains
  •    Seeds
  •    Legumes (Beans, peas, lentils, etc.)
  •    Herbs
  •    Spices

Nigerian cuisines are one of the best in the world. If not all I have heard of how the Nigerian jollof rice is praised both at home and abroad. Most of the Nigerian foods are made locally with local spices. Nigerian delicacy consists of dishes or food items ranging from the diverse ethnic groups in Nigeria. Nigerian dishes use spices and herbs with groundnut or palm oil to prepare deeply flavored sauces and soups similar to other West African cuisines.

Fantastic foods are delicious and enjoyable; delicacies that heighten one’s appetite. Some homemade, locally dished foods can make you feel rootless and homesick if not eaten for a long time.

LIST OF VARIOUS TYPES OF NIGERIA FOODS

Some of the locally Nigerian prepared dishes are mentioned below and are categorized under some major foods.

  • RICE-BASED

  1. Coconut rice is rice made with coconut milk or liquid.
  2. Jollof rice is a concussion made with tomato and pepper paste.
  3. Fried rice is prepared from rice and typically mixed with an assortment of eggs, canned maize, and meat, poultry or prawns.
  4. Tuwo Masara is prepared from corn flour dish eaten mostly in northern Nigeria.
  5. Tuwo Shinkafa is a thick rice pudding usually eaten with “Miyan Kuka” (a thick soup) or vegetable soup and goat meat stew or “Miyan Taushe”, meat (usually goat or mutton) and smoked fish or biscuit bone called Keshia. Served mostly in Northern Nigeria.

  • BEAN-BASED

  1.  Akara is produced from beans and is called beans cake. It is fried in red oil or vegetable oil.
  2.  Ewa Agoyin is prepared with beans. Pepper and onion sauce is prepared and are eaten with it.
  3.  Gbegiri (a bean-based soup from the southwest) is a local soup prepared with beans. The beans are mashed till they are smooth and are pasty.
  4. Moin Moin is prepared from beans. It is prepared from a mixture of peeled beans, ground, and wrapped in a leaf (like a banana leaf) or leather or tin container. It is a steamed beans pudding.
  5.  Ekuru is also made with beans but unlike Moi Moi, Ekuru is white while pepper sauce is prepared separately and eaten together.
  6.  Okpa (made from guinea bean flour in southeast Nigeria) is similar to Moi Moi but stronger than Moi Moi

  • Meat

It is no myth how much Nigerians consume meat. Meat is used in most Nigerian dishes to prepare:

  1. Suya is a local barbecue prepared with meat. It is grilled and coated with ground chili pepper, peanut powder, and other local spices. It is prepared on a stick and roasted not boiled.
  2.  Kilishi is made from meat that has been cut into very thin slices, which are then spread out to dry. The other spices used including Chili pepper, spices, and local herbs are then prepared into a paste that is lightly brushed on both sides after which it is slightly grilled.
  3.  Nkwobi is a soup prepared mostly in southeastern Nigeria. It is cooked with cow legs poured into a thick, spicy sauce.
  4. Isi Ewu: prepared with goat head and legs. It’s another form of pepper soup common in southeastern Nigeria.

  • Soups and Stews

  1. Banga soup is a nutritious soup made from palm nuts and is eaten primarily in the south and mid-western of Nigeria.
  2. Ofe Akwu is also made from palm nuts but prepared more like a stew meant to eat with rice only.
  3. Miyan Keuka is a common soup among the Hausa people which is prepared from powdered baobab leaves and dried okra. It is often green in color.
  4. Ewedu called spinach is prepared white and eaten with stew or prepared in concussion form.
  5. Edikaikong is a soup prepared with different vegetables and is mostly prepared by the Annang, Ibibio and Efik people.
  6. Pepper soup is a light soup made from a mix of meat and fish with herbs and spices and is pepperish. Nutmeg and chili peppers garnished with either fish, beef, goat meat or chicken are part of its important ingredients. It is an appetizer.
  7. Afang
  8. Corn soup
  9. Draw soup often called Okro.
  10. Efo riro/Efo egusi, a stew made from leafy vegetables
  11. Egusi soup is prepared with melon seed, grounded and is thickened containing vegetables, seasonings, and meat, fish or crayfish as desired.
  12. Miyan Taushe is prepared from a mixture of groundnut and pumpkin leaves spiced with pepper, Dawadawa (or Iru) & Maggi seasonings. Mostly eaten in the north.
  13. Ogbono soup is prepared with ground Ogbono seeds, other vegetables, seasonings, and meat. Ogbono is often using to eat swallowed food.
  14. Bitterleaf soup (Ofe Onugbu)

  • Side dishes

  1. Fried plantain called Dodo is prepared from plantains fried in vegetable or palm oil.
  2. Mosa is prepared with a fermented corn, which is grounded afterward into a thick paste, fried with vegetable oil and then sprinkled with sugar. It is an acquired taste.

  • Yam-Based Food

  1.  Pounded yam is gotten from yam. The yam is mashed and pounded completely into smooth paste with no yam chunks left.
  2.  Amala is a thick paste made from yam, which has been peeled, cleaned, dried and then blended and is darker (or brown) in color.
  3. Yam porridge is a popular Nigerian dish common in the western region. It is made from yam. The yam is slightly mashed seasoned and spiced with tomato, chili and big red pepper sauce with palm oil or vegetable oil. It can be garnished with fish, meat or crayfish and vegetables to desired taste.

  • Cassava-Based

  1.  Eba, or Garri as it is fondly called. It is a derivatives of roughages or flakes from cassava which can be made into a molten form as a swallow food. It is thick and sometimes sticky base on the texture or nature of the garri.
  2. Akpu  and Fufu, are a staple dish in Nigeria made from cassava.
  3. Laafun which is similar to amala but is much lighter in color, and gluey made from cassava.

  • Snacks

  1. Chin Chin is made from flour, eggs, and butter and is described as fried cookies. It is often in small cube form.
  2. Puff Puff  and doughnuts made flour and fried with vegetable oil
  3. Kuli-Kuli or groundnut cake. It is a by-product of groundnut used for groundnut oil.
  4. Meat pie, fish pie, and chicken pie.
  5. Wara is a soft cottage cheese made from fresh cow milk or soya beans.
  6. Plantain chips made from plantain and are often dry fried
  7. Ojojo is a local food widely eaten in the southwestern part of Nigeria. This is prepared with grated Water Yam, Peppers, onions, and seasoning mixed with the grated Water Yam before being deep-fried.
  8. Masa is one of the major food in the north and is eaten both as breakfast and lunch. It is made from rice. It is traditionally served with Miyan Taushe.
  9. Yams with red stew or scrambled eggs with diced tomato and onion.
  10. Ogi/Akamu (pap) is made from maize or millet.

  • Beverages

Below are locally made drinks in Nigeria from various parts of the country.

  1. Kunu is a local drink made of either millet, sorghum, or maize. Mostly found in TV in e northern part of Nigeria.
  2. Fura de Nunu is a popular fresh cow milk drink, especially in northern Nigeria, the Fura is made of cooked and pounded millet or sorghum with a little cow’s milk.
  3. Palm wine is a liquid tapped from a palm tree that may be distilled into ogogoro.
  4. Zobo is a drink made of roselle juice (the Yorubas call the white variety Isapa). It is red in color.
  5. Soya bean milk is a drink made from soaked, ground, and sieved soya bean seeds.

Related:

Conclusion

Above are the various types and varieties of food available in Nigeria though that’s not all because there are several hundreds of varieties not mentioned in this article.

Take time out and pick any of the dishes above, prepare or buy it from the restaurant and enjoy yourself with a good locally prepared Nigerian dish. Not just dish alone you delve for the locally made drinks too if you feel soda or wine does not go well with you.