GHANA RECIPES (TUO - ZAAFI)

  
Tuo Zaafi, also known as T.Z, has its origins from the Hausa language and the word "Tuo" means stirring or paddling, while the word "Zaafi" means hot. Tuo Zaafi is also known as ‘Saakbo’ in the other languages. Tuo Zaafi is not only popular in Ghana but also across some parts of West Africa and in countries like Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

  Tuo Zaafi is a staple food in the northern parts of Ghana and unlike other local foods such as banku, fufu, yam and others which can be found on most menu lists of restaurants across the country, Tuo Zaafi is not. It was not until quite recently that some restaurants started adding it to their menu list.

   Tuo Zaafi is commonly made with corn flour or millet flour and it is soft in nature and a little sticky when felt between the hands. It is normally eaten with any soup of your choice, but the most common soups associated with Tuo Zaafi is ‘ayoyoyo’ or dry okra which is also known as 'kubewa busheshe'.

The types of Tuo Zaafi also depends on the flour used in the preparation and the three main types are the corn, millet, and the red millet and apart from these types, we have the ones that you either add corn dough or cassava flour and these types are very common among the Kotokolies and Chambas.

Tuo Zaafi is a maize flour  dish from Northern Ghana, made with Jute leaves (Ewedu). It is eaten hot after it has been cooked. The soup is very special and practical. This is a typically unique Ghanaian soup and is normally green in colour because of the leaves they use to give it flavor.

So it is prepared from corn & cassava flour, served with jute leaves soup with seasoned goat, beef and lamb.

First you have to get some ingredients which are very affordable and available at all times.

Ingredients

-       Corn or millet flour,

-       Water and Shea butter (optional)

What you need

-        Cooking pot,

-       A mixing bowl,

-       A wooden spatula,

-       Calabash and your source of heat.

Direction

•   Put your cooking pot on the source of heat or fire
•   Pour some amount of water in the pot depending on the number of    people you are cooking for.
•   Cover the pot and bring the water to boil. While the water is on fire,    take some flour also and mix it with water to make a watery paste    but it should not be light.
• Now pour the paste into the boiling water, stirring to mix it until you have a uniform solution.
• Then cover again and leave it to boil for about two minutes depending on your source of heat.
• When it starts boiling, use the calabash with a handle to collect some of the porridge into a bowl.
• Then you start stirring the porridge with a wooden spatula and whiles doing that, you add the flour as well. You will continue to add the flour till you get a tick paste and also smooth without lumps.
• After getting the tick paste, then you start adding the porridge you collected earlier and this is done step by step whiles stirring, till it mixes and becomes lighter.
• Leave it for another  2 minutes
• Now your T.Z is done and ready to dish out, but again, a bowl of water with your calabash is needed, to collect the T.Z into your plate. The act of putting the calabash into water is to prevent it from sticking unto the calabash. After dishing out your T.Z you either put the Shea butter (optional) on top of it to garnish it and also to prevent it from sticking on your fingers.
• Now you can serve your T.Z with any soup of your choice.

   Nutritional values

Tuo Zaafi is full of carbohydrates and it is an energy giving food but to make it balanced, you need a soup like the green leaves, spinach, palm nut, groundnut and ayoyoyo soups which contain vitamins, proteins, fats, minerals and you know we cannot under estimate the nutritional value of shea butter and the rich taste it gives to the Tuo Zaafi.

So the next time you are in Ghana, please don't forget to try some T.Z.