Tomato-Less Sauce: Culinary Adventure

Lately, the cost of tomatoes has skyrocketed, causing concerns for many households. With this surge in prices, making the beloved tomato stew has become a challenge. As a result, people are now looking for alternative sauce options to accompany their everyday meals.

Here is a list of local stews and sauces that can be made without tomatoes.

Ayamase sauce

Ayamase sauce,or the legendary ofada stew is famous for its unique pairing with ofada rice. However, it can also be savored with a variety of other options including- white rice, spaghetti, potatoes, yam and boiled plantains. Preparing this sauce is very easy and only requires the following ingredients: unripe habanero pepper, green bell pepper, onions, crayfish, palm oil, locust beans, assorted meat and the star of the sauce- boiled eggs.

Garden egg sauce

The garden egg sauce is quite popular in the Southern part of the country, and the tomatoes are replaced with garden eggs. Ingredients for making this sauce include: garden eggs (any type), pepper, crayfish, onions, any type of protein(fish, meat, ponmo), iru, seasoning powder and salt to taste. The beauty of this sauce is that it can be paired with whatever you will like to serve it with.

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Banga stew

Popularly known as Ofe Akwu, this palm nut stew is peculiar to the eastern part of Nigeria. This stew can be time consuming as you have to extract the juice from the palm nut, but the taste is worth the effort. To prepare this stew you need: Palm nuts, protein(fish, meat, any other protein of your choice), crayfish, onions, vegetables (scent leaf), pepper, seasoning cube and salt to taste.

Vegetable sauce

Not only is the vegetable sauce a delectable treat for your taste buds, it is highly nutritious. The vegetable sauce can be prepared with any vegetable of your choice, but the pumpkin, also known as ugu, is widely used. The ingredients needed for this sauce include: chopped vegetables(ugu, spinach), meat stock, protein of choice, oil(palm or vegetable oil), crayfish, onions and pepper.

Carrot Stew

Unlike other stew, it might take some time to balance the flavors but preparing this stew is certainly an adventure. You will need carrots, scotch bonnet peppers, cayenne pepper, tatashe, onions, ginger, garlic, cooking oil, dried thyme, curry powder, seasoning powder, and salt to prepare this stew.

Miyan Kuka

Miyan Kuka also known as Luru soup is a delicacy of Hausa origin and made from grounded baobab leaves. To enjoy this soup make sure your meat is properly seasoned as the meat stock will add more flavor to the soup. To prepare Miyan Kuka, you need smoked black catfish, assorted meat, kuka powder, ginger powder, garlic powder, onions, palm oil, seasoning powder, locust beans, crayfish, pepper and salt.

Don’t allow the cost of tomatoes stop you from enjoying your Sunday rice, instead tantalize your taste buds, make Sunday special and savor the culinary adventure Nigeria has to offer.