Spicy Ponmo. Yummm!

Ponmo is a delicacy! I don’t know what the government thought they were saying, sometime last year, they want to ban Ponmo!

We should put this curly cow hide on a national emblem already.I know a lot of people agree that ponmo is the truth.

It’s said that Ponmo has no nutritional value but that does not take away the fact that it melts in your mouth when it is well cooked or for the slightly tough ones, it is crunchy.

Some weeks back in the Lagos Island market, i observed people rushing to buy Peppered Ponmo, they had been waiting for the hawker to come around and when she did they swarmed around her.

My first introduction to Ponmo Alata was also in the same market years ago. I love to eat it as much as I love to cook it.

Cooking it is very easy.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 500 g Ponmo

• 1 1/2 cups coarsely blended pepper mix (tomatoes + pepper + onion) * pepper content should be a little high. I like mine really spicy so I do a ratio of 1 tomato to 5 peppers (2 scotch bonnet + 3 jalapeño ) and quarter of a medium sized onion. Some people can’t handle that kind of heat.

• 1/8 cup Vegetable oil

• 1 small onion

• Bouillon Cubes• Salt

Procedure

– Wash the ponmo throughly, cleaning and peeling out any unnecessary stuff on it.

– Season with salt and bouillon cubes, add onion and boil the ponmo.

Or

You can also choose to marinate pomo and fry

– When the ponmo is tender, take it off the heat and set aside.

– Heat up some oil and add the pepper. Add stock from cooking the ponmo. Add more seasoning if you want.

– Cook with lid off till the water reduces completely and the pepper starts to fry. Stir the ponmo into the pepper sauce, cook on medium heat for an additional 3 minutes (or longer if the ponmo is a little tough) and turn off the heat.

– Allow the ponmo to stay in the pepper for at least 30 mins before serving

• Peppered Meats
• Soups, Stews and Sauces
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