I was pantry surfing and found two packs of Fonio/Acha. I was in Jos a year ago with friends and our very gracious host and city guide David of Jos Blooms had his mum make us a hearty bowl of Gwote and Nama Rida for breakfast on our last day in Jos. That was my first time having Gwote and I had been looking forward to it.

When we were leaving we sent off with gifts and it included the two packs of cleaned Fonio from David’s aunt. I had plans to make my own Gwote and I kept pushing it forward till I forgot

Fonio is a super food, it is listed as one of the world’s oldest and most nutritious grains. Fonio is so versatile and can be used to cook both sweet and savoury dishes. Blended to flour it can be used for baking gluten free baked goods, made into swallow (Tuwo Acha), made into pudding , pancake etc…

Gwote is a pottage made with Fonio, it’s commonly eaten by the people of the Plateaus particularly Jos. Gwote is easy to make, it is pretty yummy, and you can make it with any assortment of vegetables that you like.

Recipe

Serves 4

• 1.5 cups Fonio/Acha
• 300g chicken breast cut into chunks
• A small bunch of pumpkin leaves (sliced large)
• 1 Red Bell Pepper chopped
• 1 Green Bell pepper chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped spring onions
• 1 onion
• 1 tbsp ginger powder
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• Salt to taste
• 2 Seasoning cubes
• 4 cups of water

Procedure

• In a pot cook your chicken with some water, chopped onions, seasoning cubes, ginger powder, cayenne pepper, salt
• Once the chicken is cooked, rinse the Fonio/Acha and add to the chicken. Stir it in. The grains absorb water pretty quickly, so and this point gradually add your water into the pot.
• Add your vegetables and cook for about 7-10 minutes on medium to low heat.
• Taste to see if you need to adjust your seasoning
• The gwote is ready once the Fonio is translucent and the vegetables are tender, the consistency you are looking for is not runny.

Serve warm and enjoy!

• Soups