NIGERIA: Pounded yam is among the popular Nigerian delicacies extracted from yam recipes consumed by many Nigerians.
In simple terms, pounded yam is a boiled yam that undergoes the process of pounding. Pounded yam can be eaten with any kind of soup be it vegetable, stew, or egusi and stew.
Preparing pounded yam
- Tubers of yam
- Peel the yam
- Slice the yam into pieces
- Wash it into a clean pot
- Put the pot on the fire
- Allow it to boil very well
- Then pound
Items needed for pounding yam
- Mortar
- Pestle
- Kitchen knife for peeling the yam
After the yam has been peeled and boiled until it softens through the help of fire, it will be put in the mortar for pounding until it is smooth and ready for eating.
Health Benefits of yam
- Yams are a great source of fibre
- Yam has antioxidants
- Yam boosts brain functions
- Yam reduces inflammation
- Yam helps to improve/control blood sugar
- It helps to increase/improve weight
- It contains calories, carbohydrates and fats
- Yam is proteinous in nature
- It also has vitamin C and B
Yam can be eaten in different ways depending on the person’s choice. It can be boiled or cooked, smoked, roasted, fried or eaten as yam porridge.
Economic importance of yam
It is a known fact that yam farming is one of the best trade-in Nigeria and in the whole of Africa as a continent.
The economic importance of yam in Nigeria cannot be exaggerated enough as it is a major contributor to boosting the GDP of the country. Nigeria in recent times has been identified as having the most producers and farmers of yams in Western Africa.
Even today, the wealth of every Igbo man is measured by the number of yams he has harvested.
Until Nigeria stops thinking and seeing farming as just a means of farming to feed themselves, rather than farming as a business that is capable of making them rich, the economic importance of farming especially yam farming cannot be achieved.
One of the ways farmers can add economic stability to their yam farming is through yam storage and processing. Drying the yams and storing them for future use will add economic stability to the product, making it valuable in the eyes of the buyers.
Many farmers sell the yam immediately after it is harvested from the farm without considering the future.
Farmers can as well peel, wash and dry their yam in order to process it as yam flour.
Professor Sanni Lateef, the former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), said the best approach the farmers could use to justify their labour and investments with good returns is to embrace value addition. This can be sold in international markets and it will, in turn, burst the economic strength of Nigeria.
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