Thank you for my childhood.
I'm Igbo and we know this as Ogiri. My family would sneak this (grounded) bean in their luggage whenever returning from Nigeria, usually triple and quadruple wrapped in plastic and newspaper to hide it's fishy aroma from baggage handlers.
This locust bean, ground crawfish, nutmeg, and Maggi are our staple spice and seasonings. Since moving away from my family home, I've become homesick and wanted to cook our traditional foods but don't have a relationship with any family members who could bring me the spice from Nigeria. I'm grateful to have discovered this website that not only carries and delivers it here in the US, but also describes it beautifully. I rarely see West African cuisine described so artfully for an audience new to it.
I made yam porridge with them today and the smell and taste took me back to my youth. I've only ever seen it ground and typically we blend it in a food processor along with other ingredients for our stew base (onions, tomatoes, peppers, etc). I decided to blend these whole and they did come out chewy and not as pureed as I would've liked but I was too excited by the familiarity of the scent and taste to care. I will use the tip to soften in hot water, then blend it next time.
I saw a few confused comments so I'll add my tips here:
- It's best used is a stew, sauce, or soup base. I highly recommend you grind it, maybe even into a fine paste with some water. Or, how I'd be using it, blending it with your base ingredients. But in future, with this brand particularly, I'll heat it in chicken stock first to soften it, then I'll blend with my stew base.
- A little goes a long long LONG way. The taste is strong, but the smell is stronger. It will linger in your kitchen and surrounding areas, like madras curry. So plan for ventilation or use with ease. At most a tablespoon seasons a meal for 6. But use to your taste, it's delicious.
-It does darken the color of your base substantially. For example, a light pink sauce may turn a dark red or golden brown after adding.
