AMALA, THE SPECIAL YORUBA FOOD BY OLALEKAN ODUNTAN

Amala is the popular and best food of Yoruba people from the South west of Nigeria. It is the food that is highly cherished by any full fledged Yoruba man or woman born and breathed in that land. Amala powder is added to already boiled water on the fire and stir till thickened up before wrapping it in a nylon or put in a plate for eating. White Amala is best known to the Egba people from Abeokuta while the brown one is common with the Oyo people. And they are both good, it is just a matter of preference. Amala can be eaten with so many types of soup namely Vegetable soup, which is sometimes called (Efo Riro), Okro soup or Ewedu soup depending on an individual's choice.
Amala is a food that has gone international today as it is being served in most of the hotels in the world with the above named soups as part of their cuisine. Amala is best eaten with one particular soup called Bean soup or (Gbegiri) and anybody who has not tasted this before does not know what he or she is missing. Amala with soup is sometimes recommended for the aged, pregnant women and the sick because it digests easily in the system after eating. Some people prefer to put soup on their Amala before using their hands to eat it. Amala is best enjoyed when it is served hot with soup stocked with fish or meat to go with it. And a visit to any local canteen will show how people eating hot Amala with Ewedu soup sweat profusely on it as a sign of enjoying their meals. Conclusively, whichever way we look at it, Amala is a Yoruba food and it is a delicacy any day and any time. If you want to try your hands on making Amala, the yam powder is locally available at any market that they sell foodstuffs and a trial of it will convince you that it is a food to be reckoned with by those who like to eat good food.