Corn Moi Moi – Abari

 

This is the season of corn (literally called maize) and I have been enjoying it’s season…At a point, I kept wondering if there are varieties of food I can prepare with corn. The first food that dropped on my mind was Pap… Of course, Pap is the major food every Saturday morning in a typical Yoruba family.

Then, I remembered my mum loves Adalu as well… You know Adalu, right? Adalu is when beans is cooked with maize.

Afterwards, I asked my aunt if there are other varieties of food I can get from maize. She then mentioned Abari.. I was like Aba what?😁🤔

I never heard of it before that day. I was eager to know more about Abari and she taught me how to prepare it.

Now let’s go to the kitchen and prepare Abari .

I’m sure all of us know what is called Moinmoin…

I’m a big fan of Moinmoin oooo.. I like it very much. Now, Abari is another version of Moinmoin called Corn Moinmoin..

 

Instead of using beans to prepare moin moin, we rather use corn.

Isn’t that interesting?

 

 

Ingredients for making Abari

 

Corn

Salt (to taste)

Maggi

Tatashe

Rodo

Onions

Vegetable oil or palm oil

Cool or warm water

You can also add any of the following to your Abari

 

*Hard boiled eggs*: Cut the eggs into small
pieces.

 

*Bone Marrow*: Cook the bone marrow with
spices and herbs till done then add to the Abari at the mixing stage.

*Corned beef*: separate into small chunks and
add to the moi moi during mixing.

Procedure
1) First, you remove the Corn from the cob.

2) Blend the Corn, Tatashe with Rodo, onions, crayfish,and grounded nutmeg(optional) together with some of the
water and pour the mix into a big enough
bowl.

 

3) Add the vegetable oil and the bone marrow
stock (if this is what you have chosen to
add to your moi moi).

 

4)Slowly add the remaining water and stir
the mixture at the same time till you get a
good mix of all the ingredients.

5) Add salt to taste and stir very well.

6) Finally, Pour into your container of choice or preferably leaves (called ewe iran in Yoruba) ,
Seal and place in a steamer or pot of boiling
water for 45 minutes to 1 hour( the cooking
method is the same as that for moi-moi ).
Confirm
that it is done by putting a knife through it,
if the knife is stained with Moi Moi paste,
then the Moi Moi is not done, but if the
knife just has a slight smear of Moi Moi,
then it’s done. Also, when you cut through
the Moi Moi, the insides will be set and not
watery.

If you are cooking a few wraps of Moi Moi
in a small pot on high heat, then it will only
take about 45 minutes to get done while when you are cooking a large pot of Moi Moi, it will definitely take more than one
hour.
Majorly , the procedure is just the same as preparing Moi Moi just that we use Corn instead of beans when making Abari

Now, there are some things to note when preparing Moi Moi or Abari….

 

1. Nutmeg gives the Moi Moi its classic taste.
If you’ve ever eaten Nigerian Moi Moi at a
party and wondered why it tastes better
than the ones you make, it is probably
because you do not add nutmeg to your
Moi Moi.

2. It is best to use cool or warm water when
mixing Moi Moi. You do not want to use
hot water for this purpose as it may cause
the mix to be lumpy.

3. Using the right amount of oil in your Moi
Moi ensures that it has a good texture and
rolls off the tongue when you eat it but feel
free to use any amount of oil you want.
And it is advisable to use tastless and
odourless oils in your Moi Moi so that rules
out olive oil.

When your Corn Moi Moi (Abari) is ready, you can serve with with chilled fruit juice or coconut juice                or
Serve as a side dish to Jollof Rice, Fried Rice or
Fried Plantains.

For breakfast, serve with Custard
or Akamu (Pap, Ogi).
As for me, I would rather go for hot Pap especially in this rainy season. 

Try Abari Now  and Thank me later . . .

Much love

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo credit :Internet