How to Make Fufu

The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

• Total: 40 mins
• Prep: 15 mins
• Cook: 25 mins
• Servings: 4 servings

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Fufu, an essential food in most of West Africa, was brought to the Americas by enslaved populations who adapted it to Caribbean cuisines according to what was available. There are many versions of fufu, with each West African country featuring its own favorite recipe. In general, fufu refers to a dough made from boiled and pounded starchy ground provisions like plantains, cassava, or malanga—or a combination of two or more. Cuba, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico have their own versions, too, with sweet plantains and added animal fats like butter, bacon, or lard.

Our recipe for fufu uses true yams, first boiling them and then pounding in a wooden mortar and pestle until they’re smooth and sticky like dough. The tart and sour flavor of pounded starches pairs really well with full-bodied and well-seasoned meat and vegetable dishes, and it’s especially good served with a Caribbean soup or stew. For this recipe, you can set aside the traditional mortar and pestle and use a food processor instead, which cuts down on the amount of work and time needed.

Potato flakes, baking mix, and water stirred constantly form a starchy ball that’s meant to be served on top of stew. The more traditional ingredients are harder to find so this is a great adaptation.

ingredients

6 cups water
2 1/2 cups Bisquick
2 1/2 cups instant potato flakes

directions

Bring water to a rapid boil in a large, heavy pot. Combine the remaining ingredients and add to the water.

Stir constantly for 10 – 15 minutes – a process that needs two people for best results: one to hold the pot while the other stirs vigorously with a strong implement (such as a thick wooden spoon). The mixture will become very thick and difficult to stir, but unless you are both vigilant and energetic, you’ll get a lumpy mess.

When the fufu is ready (or you’ve stirred to the limits of your endurance!), dump about a cup of the mixture into a wet bowl and shake until it forms itself into a smooth ball. Serve on a large platter alongside a soup or stew.

Recipe Source: The Africa News Cookbook: African Cooking for Western Kitchens

cook’s notes

Conventional west African fufu is made by boiling such starchy foods as cassava, yam, plantain or rice, then pounding them into a glutenous mass, usually in a giant, wooden mortar and pestle. The first early-morning sounds of rural west Africa are often the rhythmic thud-thud’s of fufu being made.

This adaptation for North Americans may trouble you if you try to stick to minimally-processed foods. But it’s worth trying at least once with West African groundnut stews.

Home » HOW TO MAKE PLANTAIN FUFU

Plantain Fufu is basically a solid meal or swallow (as we call it in West Africa) made from green plantains. The plantains we use for this recipe is the green unripe plantains. Plantains are grain free and gluten free and they are a good source of Magnesium, Calcium and many other nutrients. In fact, it is recommended as a health food for diabetes and also helps to improve general body wellness.

This meal is really easy to prepare. All you have to do is to peel and cut the plantains into small chunks – this will make blending a breeze. Pour the blended plantain inside a pot and continue to stir until it becomes stretchy – so easy!

Though, this recipe can also be made using plantain flour – which is a flour made by drying the green plantains and grinding it into a fine powder.

I choose to use the green plantains today because that is what I have at home at the moment but if you like you can also use the plantain flour for this recipe. It works just as well. However, I will advise you buy one that has no preservative in it.

Sometimes, we plan to use the green plantains in our recipes but all of a sudden, they go ripe on us. The best thing to do in order to prevent this is to store them and you will be able to use them anytime you choose to.

Variant names of fufu include Foofoo, Fufuo, Foufou, Foutou and many more depending on the part of Africa.

Plantain fufu can be paired with Okro, Spinach (efo riro), Egusi soup, Ogbono and more.

BELOW IS A VIDEO DEMONSTRATION OF PLANTAIN FUFU:

Potato Fufu is a tricky one to make because Irish potatoes do not contain enough starch to make a mouldable fufu meal. But I will show you how. The recipe detailed on this page will show you how to make Potato Fufu from fresh Irish Potatoes.
How to Make Potato Fufu [Video]
Potato Fufu (Another Way)
More Nigerian Fufu Recipes

Potato Fufu should be served with a Nigerian soup for fufu meals. Click here for Nigerian Soups Recipes

Ingredients for Potato Fufu

• 2 medium Irish Potatoes (spuds)
• 1 cup plain flour (all purpose flour)
• ½ cup hot water

You can use sweet potatoes instead of Irish Potatoes but sweet potatoes are too sweet for a fufu meal and some people with authentic Nigerian tastebuds may not like it.
If using sweet potatoes, click here to follow the pounded yam recipe.

Directions for making Potato Fufu

1. Peel the potatoes, cut into cubes and rinse.
2. Put in a pot, pour water to cover the potatoes and start cooking on medium heat.
3. Mix the flour with the hot water till a sticky dough is achieved.
4. Mould the dough into small balls and set aside.
5. When the potatoes have boiled for about 12 minutes, add the balls of dough and continue cooking till you can easily drive a knife into the potatoes.
6. Decant the water into a bowl and set aside.
7. Pound/mash the potato and ball of flour either with a potato masher, a blender, a mortar and pestle or a stand mixer till a smooth dough is achieved. See the video below.

That’s it! Serve immediately with your favourite Nigerian Soup.

Plantain Fufu in three minutes? I imagine my ancestors and people a little stuck in old traditions would find this unsettling. I wonder how the powdered versions of fufu, pounded yam and such have been accepted. That probably took a little more time than the manufacturers anticipated. West Africans are notorious for being very resistant to change so occasionally, knowing the kind of audience I have, I have indulged in a few change management courses. These courses have helped me understand the mindset and implement some of the lessons i’ve learned. I digress! I made this plantain fufu in three minutes because I made it in the microwave. I imagine yam flour would require slightly more time or the same time. This was however super easy and straight-forward.

Ingredients

1/2 cup of plantain fufu flour

3/4 cup of hot water

1/4 cup of warm water

Method

In a bowl, pour in your plantain fufu flour then slowly pour in the 1/4 cup of warm water and stir so lumps do not form. The warm water may begin to make the fufu form slightly by absorbing all the water. Slowly pour in half of the hot water and mash and flip over. Pour a bit more of the hot water and place in the microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Take it out, mash and flip over multiple times and pour the rest of the water over the fufu dough that has begun to form. Place in the microwave again for another 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Take it out, mash and flip again and by now it should be stretchy which means it is ready.

Cornmeal (Tuwo masara) is a staple food and a very popular fufu swallow among the Northern parts of Nigeria. It comes in different names as some people call it cornmeal fufu or corn swallow. In Hausa, it is called tuwon masara or tuwo.

Cornmeal fufu is made from dried corn. The corn is ground into a medium consistency and then sieved to have a fine consistency. Tuwon Masara or corn fufu is a bit similar to polenta as they both use corn. While corn fufu is cooked plain without any seasoning, polenta is prepared and seasoned like a porridge.

Tuwon Masara or corn fufu is a common meal in parts of Africa and it is cooked in different ways depending on the country. However, in some Northern states in Nigeria, this fufu swallow is a great side dish you would likely come across it in restaurant menus and in many homes.

Different ways to prepare Cornmeal fufu (Tuwon Masara)

There are different ways of making cornmeal fufu. You can directly add the ground corn to a pot of boiling water and while stirring continuously to create a dough-like mash.

However, you can still prepare your corn fufu or tuwo masara by mixing the cornflour into a thick paste and then add it into a pot of boiling water to make a smooth dough-like mash. Cornmeal fufu is traditionally eaten with light soups like Miyan taushe, Miyan karkashi , Miyan Busheshe kubewa and Miyan kuka. This is done by breaking pieces of the fufu off and using them to scoop up bites of soup you are eating. However, cornmeal also pairs well with any type of soup, stews, and sauces. Apart from tuwon Masara, there are other cornmeal recipes . Also see here how to make Nigerian fufu

Cornmeal fufu or swallow is then prepared using the following Ingredients:

Cornmeal fufu ingredients

• Ground corn (maize)
• Water
• Pot
• Wooden spoon or turner

You can also watch this video to see how this is made below

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How to make Lafun ! Lafun also called white amala (cassava flour fufu) is Nigerian swallow made with Cassava flour. It is eaten with soups like Ewedu, Okro Soup, efo riro and other delicious Nigerian soups.

I remember not eating this Nigerian swallow often while growing up reason being my mum rarely ever made it. The few times i had it back then was at buka joints/restaurants. It used to be cheaper than the black amala . You get almost double the quantity for the same price of black amala. I am guessing now they will go for about the same price (not sure as i haven’t bought this in buka/restaurants for years now) as cassava flour is now almost same price as yam flour.

I do now prepare Lafun often and my family loves it. This is how i prepare Lafun :

What is Cassava flour ?

Cassava flour used for lafun is white in colour and it is derived from cassava. Cassava is processed, dried and blended to powdery form to make cassava flour. In Nigeria, we call it Lafun

Cassava flour benefits
Contains resistant starch which benefit the digestive tract and reduce bloating and inflammation. It feeds good bacteria and aid good digestion.

How to make Lafun – White amala (Cassava flour Fufu)

Unlike amala that is prepared on stovetop from the start, white amala is started off heat then later put on stove top. Infact most people commonly prepare Lafun without the need for stove top just like one prepares Eba but i personally like to steam on stove for 2 minutes. It gives the Lafun a bit of stretch which i like and also gives smoother Lafun.

How to prepare Cassava flour fufu (Lafun -white amala)

INGREDIENTS

You will need Cassava flour, Water, Turning spoon and pot (Quantity in recipe card below)

DIRECTIONS
1) Sieve Cassava flour
2) In a pot, add boiling water then add in cassava flour.

3) Stir till cassava flour is incorporated

4) Add hot water, put on stove and steam for 2 minutes.

5) Stir till Lafun is smooth and lump free

Serve Lafun with soup of choice like Ewedu and Buka Stew like in picture below or other soups like Okro soup , Turkey stew, efo riro, Egusi soup , etc

How to Make Fufu

For today’s post we will continue with recipes for making traditional and authentic Ghanaian staples, and next up is how to make fufu.

Ghanaian Fufu is traditionally made from cassava root ( Yuca Root) and plantains. In Nigeria, fufu is mostly made from boiled cassava and unripe plantain beaten together, as well as from cocoyam. Recently, these products have been pre-manufactured into a powder/flour that can be mixed with hot water to obtain the final product—thus taking away the laborious chore of beating it in a mortar with a pestle—a long pole with a flared pounding end on it—until the desired consistency is obtained.

I had the pleasure of pounding Fufu a while back. It is an arduous task, but one that can be fun if you are in good company. Check out The Old Silly pounding Fufu with Fafali, his native Ghanaian wife.

In Western and Central Africa, the typical method is to serve a mound of fufu along with a soup or stew dish. After washing your hands, you pinch off a small piece of fufu and make an indentation with your thumb. This cavity is then dipped into the soup, and the whole ball is eaten. As with Banku and Kenkey, Fufu is not only a food, but serves as a utensil as well.

How to make Fufu the traditional way …

Ingredients:

• One to two to pounds each of plantains and cassava root ( Yuca Root)

• one or two teaspoons butter (optional)

What you do:

• Peal plantains and cassava roots and place in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook until the ingredients are soft—typically about 30 minutes. Remove pot from heat and cool ingredients with cold running water. Drain. Add butter (optional). Put ingredients in a large ceramic earthen bowl and beat them together with a Fufu stick, which is a tall (usually 6’ long) wooden stick with a flared blunt end for pounding, folding and mashing the ingredients together repeatedly. This is usually done by two people, one doing the pounding, while the other adds water to keep the mash moist and malleable and does the folding.
• This folding, pounding, and watering process continues until the mash is stiff enough to mold into shapes that will hold.
• You then mold the fufu into balls and serve immediately with meat stew or any dish with a sauce or gravy. To eat it, tear off a small handful with your fingers, create an indented cup shape, and use it to scoop up your meat and sauce.

And How to Make Fufu the Easy Modern Way …

Ingredients:

• The ratio is:
• 2 cups of fufu powder for 4 cups of water.
• You can find Fufu powder in most local African food stores, but if you don’t have one nearby, you can purchase some in our online grocery store.
• Fufu banana is traditionally made by pounding the bananas but now you can get the powder on the market too.

Directions:
• Step 1: bring the water to boil and then remove 1-1/2 cup of the hot water and set aside.
• Step 2: Add the fufu powder while mixing vigorously . Then pour in the remaining water and mix well.
Note: if you have a friend around, ask him to hold the pot for you while you are kneading the fufu until smooth. This step requires all your strength and it may take up to 10 min. If you are alone, then the easiest way is to beat the fufu on the ground near a wall.
• Step 3: when the fufu is smooth and elastic, mold it with the use of a deep spoon.
• It can be served with soup or stew.

And that, folks, is how to make fufu.

Tune in for the next post, which will show you how to make Kenkey, the other of the three main Ghanaian meal staples.

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Fufu is a common food staple in homes to be eaten as swallow with soup or sauces. Though it’s most often bought at stores, this is how to make yours at home

Fufu is a popular Nigerian staple made from cassava. People from eastern Nigeria refer to it specifically as akpu before the more generic names like fufu and loi-loi were adopted. Known as a high energy food, it is a delicacy that goes with almost any soup. And after a long day, anyone sapped of energy may find themselves yearning for this stomach-filling staple. However, because it is made from cassava, fufu is starchy and has to go through some processes before it is ready to grace the stomach.

For all its popularity, one has to wonder how healthy it is and what the nutritional composition is. Fufu is rich in calories, but an over-dependence on it can result in protein deficiency. Cassava contains gluten-free starch and is low in fat, but the calories can increase stomach fat. Additionally, it contains essential vitamins like folate and vitamin B6, plus minerals like iron, zinc, copper, and magnesium.

Fufu variations and how to make them

1. Blended fufu

В В В В В В Ingredients

• Cassava tubers
• Water

Extracting the fufu

• Peel the cassava tubers.
• Rinse well and then grate or cut into small pieces.
• Pour into a blender and blend with cool water. A 500w blender can do the job
• To remove the starch in it, sieve with a chiffon sieve. And as you sieve rinse so that the starch from the chaff can also go into the bowl.
• What is left in the chiffon is your cassava fufu (no-smell). The one in the bowl is known as Delta starch.

В В В В В В Preparation of cassava fufu

• Pour your cassava fufu into a clean pot and put on fire.
• Start stirring with a spatula when it reaches a medium heat.
• As you turn add drops of water little by little until your cassava fufu changes colour from white to off-white.
• Add a few more drops before covering. Let it heat up.
• When it steams, mix with your spatula until a smooth consistency is achieved. Serve with any soup of your choice.

Fermented akpu (pounded)

В В В В В В Ingredients

• Cassava
• Water

Instructions

• First, cut the cassava into four or five pieces before peeling. Cutting makes it easier to cut, especially if the tubers are big.
• Wash the cassava until very white and then place in a bowl. Pour enough water to wholly swallow the cassava in the bowl. Let it ferment in a warm place for 3 to 5 days.
• Poke the cassava with your finger to know if it’s fermented. It is okay if not all the cassavas are soft. Go ahead still.
• Pour away the water you used in soaking. Use your hand to beat into smaller pieces and sieve. As you do keep pressing with hands until you have chaff in the sieve.

В В В В В В Preparation

• Pour your fufu into a clean pot. Check for clumps with your hands. Mix to form a paste and mould into lumps.
• Place on the fire and cook with medium heat. Cook for 30 minutes and bring down, then pound a bit before returning to the fire.
• Cook for another 20 minutes. Pound until it becomes soft and start to draw a bit. Then mould into lumps and you’re done.

Conclusion

Fufu is great with egusi soup or any soup of your choice for that matter. Some people mix in unripe plantain during the processing of fufu.

A request for Fufu was made by a friend some days ago. Preparing it made me realise that I was not the only one craving this good old day’s comfort meal. I love the smooth feel of fufu when am gulping it. Fufu is a staple food across West Africa and refers to any cannular shaped root vegetables like yam, potato, cocoyam and cassava. These root crops can be cooked, pounded or mashed, then fashioned into little balls. One of the common types of fufu is that made from cassava. In Nigeria, it is referred to as Cassava Fufu or Akpu and is considered as the most traditional Nigerian food.

Fufu powder variant of other Nigerian fufu meals has been modernised by utilising a food processor that cuts down on the amount of work involved but not cassava fufu. There is a need for a mortar and pestle because this food is hard to pound and stability that a mortar and pestle provide can be helpful. Fufu is not a meal by itself and is generally served with any Nigerian Soup other than pepper soup. Bitterleaf Soup and Oha Soup are my most preferred soups for cassava fufu. However, that does not imply that you simply cannot enjoy it with other soups.

Table of Contents

Also Read: African Garden Egg And Its Health Blessings

It is habitual to eat fufu with clean hands. This shows the true reflection of the food. Though meant to be eaten with the fingers, spoon or knife with a fork can still do the work. Pull off a pinch of dough that is about the size of 1 / 4. Roll it right into a ball in your hand, after which you make an indentation in the ball with your thumb. Scoop up the stew and enjoy. Think of fufu as a type of an American dumpling.

Fufu Recipe

Only two ingredients are needed in making fufu namely:

1. Raw cassava paste
2. water

Fufu Making

To make raw cassava paste fit for consumption, it must undergo certain procedures:

1. Shape the raw cassava into balls and place them in a pot containing adequate boiling water enough to cover the balls. You need to knead the raw cassava paste in a bowl, adding small water occasionally until the paste mixes well with the water. If it is watery and cannot form a ball, add cassava flour or garri as the thickener, mix very well and cover the pot.
2. When the water begins to boil, and you see little cracks on the balls, remove them and put in a mortar for the first round of pounding. Use the pestle to pound vigorously to squash every one of the lumps.
3. Mould the cassava fufu into flatter balls this time because the quantity must have increased and you still need to use the same pot to contain all of them but if the pot is big enough to contain the fufu, there will not be a need for flatter balls.
4. Add more water to the first water enough to cover the cassava balls and allow to boil, and then put the balls in the pot for the second time.
5. Boil until it is ready, and then turn into a mortar like the first time and pound until it is smooth. You will know if your fufu is cooked fully through by the uniform texture, it feels really smooth and the colour which could be white or a bit off-white.

PLEASE NOTE:

Fufu is cooked twice since it is not well cooked the first time, it was half done. You will notice that the inside maintains its original texture while the outside becomes too soft in the first cooking. If you cook all at once without mixing both textures by pounding at some point, the fufu will come out sticky and watery and you will not like the texture or enjoy eating it.

FUFU WITH OHA SOUP

Ugali (Corn Fufu) — Easy to prep, soft, very delightful and filling side dish. A perfect cornmeal side dish for greens, stews, and proteins.

Step-by-step instructions on how to make Ugali or Corn fufu paired with Sukuma Wiki.

I n most parts of Africa, cornmeal, is a side dish you would find in restaurant menus and in home kitchens around the continent – under different aliases. The most notable are fufu corn (West Africa) couscous de maize (French-speaking African Countries) Ugali (Kenya) Nshima – Zambia, Nsima – Malawi, and South Africa – Meilie pap.

It is very bland and to put it lightly boring side dish BUT when paired with greens, stews and/or protein – it sure is delightful and quite filling.

Perfectly ground cornmeal is readily available in these most African Countries but when you are abroad or in the Western World it is another ball game. Check your local supermarkets for cornmeal. I have tried different varieties and what works best or come close is fine ground cornmeal. However, don’t be shy trying out cornmeal that is not labeled “fine ” some of them work just fine.

Asides from the visual aspect, there is really no difference between white and yellow cornmeal. It all depends on what color of corn was used in the process.

On a rare occasion, I ate corn fufu at a friend’s place made with Jiffy cornbread. Yes, you heard right. Jiffy cornbread mix and I sort of enjoyed it -am not going to lie. I sometimes use jiffy mix , when am cooking for one. Do not want to offend anyone. I can just see FuFu purist shouting out HERESY! But who cares? Whatever rocks your boat?

Unlike other fufu ,corn meal needs to be cooked for about 15 minutes or more to get rid of the raw taste. Be prepared to do some stirring to get a smooth paste. Be mindful that cornmeal hardens as it cools down, so if you want like really soft ugali add more water.

Pair it with this African collard greens aka sukuma wiki. or this African Okro Soup