Eba — Nigeria's most-consumed daily swallow, made from garri (roasted cassava granules). The most democratic food in Nigeria — eaten by all incomes, all ethnicities, all occasions. Yellow garri eba provides Vitamin A via palm oil tinting.
Garri is the most universally Nigerian food — if there is one food that crosses every ethnic, regional, class, and generational line in Nigeria, it is garri. Every Nigerian diaspora person has a garri story. The smell of eba cooking in a Nigerian-American kitchen is the most immediate Nigerian home signal.
Eba from yellow garri contains beta-carotene from the palm oil used in its processing — making it a Vitamin A source that white garri eba lacks. The toasting process used to make garri creates resistant starch from cassava starch, providing prebiotic benefits. Eba's primary nutritional value is as an energy delivery vehicle and swallow for nutritionally dense soups — the soup (egusi, efo riro, okro) provides most micronutrients; the eba provides satiety and the eating mechanism. The combination of eba + vegetable-rich soup is a nutritionally complete meal pattern practiced by 80+ million Nigerians.
Boil water in kettle. Pour garri into bowl. Pour boiling water gradually over garri while stirring with wooden spoon or spatula. Continue adding water and stirring until smooth, firm, and no dry lumps remain. Shape into smooth ball. Serve immediately alongside soup.
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