Yam is a favourite amongst many. It can be prepared in different ways such as Boiling, Frying, Roasting or Turning into a dough for soups. In this post, we’d be talking about the different ways in which yam can be turned into dough or in local parlance “swallow” for soups.
This is because, in the past, all we had was mortar and pestle but these days, we have blenders, grinders and food processors, therefore, yam dough can now be made and enjoyed in various ways. For the sake of clarity, the different types of yam dough meal or
have to be stated in a concise manner so we can better understand what’s available.
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Pounded yam (Boiled yam dough)
Result: White Stretchy Dough
This method of preparing yam dough meal “swallow” is the ORIGINAL method in which yam dough meal swallow is made. This is the method our fore-fathers used and has been passed down from generation to generation. It’s prepared basically with cooked yam. How you convert it to dough is where the methods come into play as listed below.
Methods to get pounded yam
a) Using the original method
This method requires the use of mortar and pestle…..Dazzaaall! Just place the cooked yam into the mortar and pound with a pestle as shown HERE
b) Using yam flour known as (Poundo Yam )
This method requires the use of an oven to dry the cooked yam then grind to fine powder.
c) Using a blender or food processor
This method requires the use of a blender or food processor to grind the cooked yam…..Dazzaaall! Just place the cooked yam into the blender or food processor and grind.
Amala (Dried yam flour dough)
Result: Brown Soft Dough
This method of preparing yam doughmeal swallow is done by converting raw dry yam into flour or powdered form known as Elubo. This powder is then stirred into hot water to form a soft brown dough as shown HERE
Blendo Yam (Ground yam dough)
Result: White Or Brown Soft Dough
This method of preparing yam doughmeal swallow can go in two ways depending on the specie of yam used. Depending on the yam specie used, the result might be either a white soft dough (pounded yam) or a brown soft dough (Amala)
