Many Lagosians grew up eating ojojo, a snack commonly sold in the evenings on the street corner.
Water yam is the basis of several African and Nigerian dishes but nothing can prepare taste buds for these ojojo or water yam balls.
Delicious and potentially easy to prepare, it makes a great snack and can also be paired with one or two other sides to create a surprisingly filling meal.
Ingredients
- 2 Water Yam tubers
- 2 tablespoons dried pepper
- 1 small red onion
- A quart of vegetable oil
- 1 garlic slice
- 1 seasoning buillon cube
- Salt
This is the original “Once you pop, you can’t stop” snack.
Directions
1. Peel 3 Water Yams and clean thoroughly
2. Grate Water Yams into a thick fine texture. Do NOT add water.
3. Add Dried pepper, onions (chopped or ground), seasoning cube, garlic (ground), salt
4. Pour enough Vegetable oil into pot ready for a deep fry.
5. Now, thoroughly mix water yam paste and all ingredients together by hand or hand mixer.
6. Now, heat palm or vegetable oil in a saucepan.
7. Then scoop water yam mix into oil and fry on medium heat for around 6 minutes.
8. The OJOJO should sink to the bottom of the pot at first and then rise to the surface while frying.
9. Due to deep frying, all sides should cook evenly with no need to flip.
10. You know OJOJO is ready when its a light brown as shown here.
11. Drain excess oils by scooping newly fried OJOJO into gauze bowl or bowl with paper towel base.
12. Then do step 7 and 8 over again until all the water yam mix is gone.
13. OJOJO or Water Yam Balls is now ready to serve
Tips:
– Deep Fryer can be used as a substitute for saucepan
– Time saver! A dry blender such as the magic bullet may be used to blend the water yam on “pause” setting
– Do not over mix to keep a textured consistency. Over mixed water yam will reduce paste thickness
– Cooking Times depend on stove temperature and kind. A good gauge will be to cook 2 minutes more or less
(via Spice Baby)
