How toprepare or cook Acha Pudding

Acha pudding is another nutritious form of pap or custard recipe common in the nothern parts of Nigeria;this creamy andrich pudding is one ofthe most simplest foods in the the north apart from kunu and zobo drink. Acha foodcan simply be prepared with just sugar and milk or with coconut milk, or you can make it in a similar way as oatmeal recipe if you want, then top it with your favorite topping.

My staying in the northern region of Nigeria has brought me full blessings which I have been exposed to several kinds of dishes which ordinarily I wouldnt have known about. I came across this tiny cereals while growing up as a child in northern Nigeria. It is very nutritious and recommended for people with Diabetes and I wouldnt just bypass it; I had to pay more attention to the people and develop love for some of their recipes which hasled to the recipe you are about to read now.

Acha (Digitaira spp) also known as Fonio or Hungry man rice is commonly cultivated by some West African countries such as Gambia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso and Nigeria ( Plateau state). Acha (Fonio) can be used for making bread, weaning food for babies, Tuwo Acha( eba with acha),Gote Acha and Acha Pudding. In our write-up today,we will be talking about Acha pudding (Pap) and Gote Acha.

Acha pudding is commonly served with different thing such asAkara, Beans cake(Moi moi), bread, fried plantain chips or fried potato chips, depending on which ever one you may be intereste

Acha Pudding Ingredientsinclude:

1. 1 Cup of Acha grains
2. 1Tin or 1 cup powder milk
3. 5 Table-spoons granulated or cube sugar any amount
4. 2 Calabashes or bowls for washing of the Acha
5. 1 Wooden turner
6. 3-4 Cups of clean water for the cooking
7. I personally do add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to acha pudding, it tastes good with the addition of sugar.

Directions for preparing Acha Pudding

How to get rid of sand in Acha

1. Measure 1 cup of Acha into a calabash or bowl and add water to cover the Acha
2. Bring anothercalabash or bowl and use your hand to stir the grains;by followingsedimentation method of separation technique, the sand will settle after the water is added to the Acha. To remove those grains of sand, start byshaking the content in the bowl from side to side while gently pouring the content into the second bowl.try to limit the sand from moving to the second bowl. when you see the sand remaining at the bottom of the bowl,discardthe sandand rinse the bowl or calabash and repeat the process till you are sure the whole sand in the Acha is finished and you are left with just clean grains of acha.
3. Change the water and use your hand to pack the grainsinto the pot you are going to use for the cooking.
4. Add 3 cups of water to the pot and allow it to heat up.
5. Pour the Acha into the pot and keep stirring it to prevent it from moulding or clumping together.As it starts to boil, add a tip of salt As you begin to notice that the Acha is becoming thicker and softer, keep stirring and if it becomes so thick, add more water until you get your right consistency.
6. When the water has gone down a bit and you are satisfy with the consistency you are seing, bring down the potfromheat.
7. Dish the cooked achainto a plate, add sugar and milk and serve it while it is hot with Akara, Moi-moi, Plantain chips or Bread.

How to cook or prepare Gote Acha

Gote Acha is another dish prepared like porridge or soup. Toprepare this,several ingredients are needed to make it tasty and nutritious

Ingredients for cooking Gote Acha

1. Cartilages (Biscuit bones), Fish or Meat. you can use both
2. 1 Tincupof Acha
3. 4 Ripe tomatoes (4 medium sizes)
4. Fresh garden egg (4 Medium sizes)
5. Cabbage (half of the ball)
6. Groundnut (1 cup)
7. Spinach(spring onions,Yakwa (sorrel), green leaves or any vegetable of your choice). i used three different leaves such as, spring onions, yakwa and green.
8. 1 bulbonion
9. green beans or carrots (optional)
10. 2 Tablespoons groundnut oil (1big spoon), optional
11. 2 Tablespoons grinded crayfish
12. 3 Seasoning cubes
13. 3 scotch bonnet peppers
14. Salt to taste
15. A little traditional spice can be added (Okpei/Dawadawa)

Acha Pudding and Ingredients

Some of the ingredients for preparing gote acha

Steps on how to PrepareGote Acha

1. Wash, seasonthe biscuit bones (Cartilages) and meat andplace on heat source.
2. While the meat is on heat, wash the groundnuts into amortar, using a pestle;partially break them into chunkypieces.
3. When the meat and thebiscuit bones are cooked, add more water (1 -2 cups) to it and add the broken pieces of groundnut into the content and allow to boil for 5 minutes
4. Add crayfish, pepper, salt, and seasoning cubes to the content and allow it to bubble
5. Wash the spinach, cabbage or spring onions in salt water to get rid ofinsects and cut them into big sizes and keep aside.
6. Dice the tomatoes intocircular shape and garden egg and drop into the content and allow it to boil for about 8 minutes
7. Add the washed Acha (see procedure for washing Acha above) and continuously stir it to prevent moulding. Keep stirring it until it becomes thicker and softer.
8. Finally add the spinach(vegetables), stir and allow on heat for just 3minutes, you dont want your vegetables to be completely brown
9. Put off the heat and serve hot.

Procedures for preparing gote acha

1. Season and cook your meat until it turns out very soft.

Boiling process of meat with iced fish for gote acha

2. While the meat is on heat, partially break groundnuts into mediumpieces and keep aside.

Picture of partially broken groundnuts

3. After the meat is cooked, add groundnuts, sliced tomatoes, and garden eggs and bring the content to aboil.

Choped vegetables in a tray

Groundnuts, garden eggs, tomatoes and other ingredients are being added to the content on heat

4. When you have added the above, check for the liquid, if it is not enough, add more because acha tends to swell so well as it boils;when the content starts to boild reduce the heat to a medium low and add the washed acha.

Cooking process of gote acha

5. Using a wooden turner, stir the content from time to time to prevent it from getting clumpy or from burning at the bottom of the pot.

6. After 5- 8 minutes of stirring it,taste for seasonings and adjust if need be and cook the acha on a low heat till you notice it soft and slightly thicken. do not make it so thick because the cooler it becomes,the thicker it will be.

7. Add the chopped leafy vegetablesand stir to combine , then bring it offfrom heat and serve as much as you want.

Acha is being serve in a plate

A plate of gote acha