58 •
The Lion King
• October - December 2017
FOOD
CHOP-CHOP
MODE ACTIVATED
BY MARIAM MOHAMMED
I
just cultivated a habit of always
munching on something; well I think
it’s a bad habit but it only started
during the holidays and I hope I stop
soonest.
My Grand-Ma was around during the
holiday and didn’t help my chop-
chop matters, in fact she made it
worse. As in… I can eat 5 times in the
morning and maybe more later in the
day, well not real food but just tiny
pieces here and there.
As a matter of fact, I am currently
addicted to her local snack she calls
Ojojo (Water Yam Fritters). That’s what
I woke up to every morning and I
didn’t mind. I was surprised to find out
she uses cocoyam in making it. Didn’t
know cocoyam could be made into a
delicious snack.
For those that don’t want to age
quickly, the great news is that water
yam slows down ageing process …
o yeah!!! It does. It is also good for
diabetic patients because it has sub-
stantial amount of antioxidants and
Vitamin C and helps to suppress blood
sugar. Because of the high fiber con-
HOW TO PREPARE OJOJO
1. Peel off the skin of the water yam,
cut it into big chunks and grate it
with the tiniest side of grater
2. Chop the pepper (ata-rodo) and
onions into very tiny pieces, grind
crayfish and add to the grated
mixture.
3. Add your seasoning to taste – I
prefer to use crayfish Maggi or
Knorr chicken. Then a pinch of
salt.
4. Use your hands to mix and blend
the mixture well until mixture is
smooth.
5. Keep in the fridge for 30mins or
less. This makes it stay together
more when you fry it. It is optional
though.
6. Put your oil on fire. Ojojo is deep
fried like akara or puff-puff.
7. Use your fingers to form a ball
with the dough and drop into the
hot oil. Leave it for fry for a 1 – 2
minutes, when the edges have
turned brown, flip it over to allow
the other side to fry
You can have ojojo with Tea, Pap,
Agidi or even Garri.
tent, it also prevents constipation
and reduces pain for pile patients.
According to an article I read on
bowel movement, if you have hard
stool, eating water yam softens the
stool because of the fibre content. It
contains small amount of vitamin E
and beta-carotene level. Water Yam
has lots of minerals, like copper, calci-
um, potassium, iron and also phospho-
rus. These are all essential elements
the body needs.
There are loads of other health ben-
efits of water yam. You can read more
online.
See...! Even with my chop-chop habit,
I have been eating healthy!
Get the following ingredients to make
the Ojojo (Water Yam Fritters):
•
Water yam
•
Pepper
•
Salt
•
Maggi (crayfish)
•
Red Onions
•
Crayfish
•
Vegetable Oil for frying
Photo Credit: www.foodandlens.com
