Yam, njam, nyami, djambi

Last week, a very African tuber- a yam, landed in my veggie basket. I had ordered sweet potato and got the yam instead from the veggie man. Just the egging on I needed to get experimenting.

The yam is the tuber of a tropical vine (Dioscorea batatas) and is not even distantly related to the sweet potato.

The word yam comes from African words njam, nyami, or djambi, meaning "to eat".

A yam has a brown or black skin, which resembles the bark of a tree, off-white, purple or red flesh, depending on the variety and is HUGE compared to a potato or sweet potato; the one used here was about 40 cm long and 15 cm in diameter..

8 good (African) things with yams-

*boiled yam- peeled and cut into large pieces, the yam is boiled in salted water until tender- about 30 minutes. Good served with lots of butter, ground pepper, salt and a sprinkling of nutmeg.

* fufu-yam and pieces of peeled ripe plantain are boiled together and mashed with cooking water, butter and lots of seasoning. I know Africans like their fufu really smooth but I mashed mine quite coarsely, and really liked it.

* dundun onyeri slices (a street food snack in Nigeria)- lightly boiled thin slices of yam are battered in egg and flour and fried to a golden brown. I served them with a simple dip of spring onion, oil, lemon juice and seasoning

* yam pancakes with cinnamon and sugar- pureed yam in a buttermilk pancake batter. Small pancakes are served with a sprinkling of cinnamon and brown sugar

* smoked yam and peanut soup- raw pieces of peeled yam, lightly smoked are cooked with onion, tomato, ground raw peanuts and vegetable stock to a thick rich soup. Delicious served with extra sliced chilli and a dollop of thick yoghurt or soured milk. (very African)

*baked yams- large pieces of yam wrapped in tin foil and baked in hot coals. Serve with lots of butter and salt

* ojojo- spicy Nigerian yam fritters, with pieces of shrimp and chopped coriander.

* yam oto- is a very symbolic Ghanaian food, served to brides before marrying, offered to twins to seal their special bond, at birthdays, to people escaping accidents or recovering from an illness.

It is a yam puree, flavoured with chopped onion and tomato fried in palm oil and hard-boiled egg yolks. This gives the puree a bright orange colour. Oto is garnished with pieces of hard-boiled egg

                                          smoked yam and peanut soup

                                           boiled yam

                                          yam pancakes with cinamon

                                          oto

                                  baked yam

Here’s one of the recipes, the rest will have to wait for the book-

Ojojo –Nigerian Yam & shrimp fritters

300 g yam, peeled and finely grated

1 small onion grated

1 teaspoon chilli paste

1 handful fresh coriander, chopped

100 g raw prawns, peeled and chopped

60 ml sunflower oil

Knead all the ingredients together with clean hands, until well mixed and season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large shallow frying pan and drop tablespoons full of the mixture into the hot oil. Fry to a golden brown on both sides over medium heat. Remove from the pan, drain on paper towel, sprinkle with salt and serve with extra chili sauce.  

                                          ojojo and dundun onyeri