What to Make with Cassava Flour and Curry Paste Recipe
You will find a variety of countries represented in the international aisle of your supermarket, for example, those bags of ground cassava flour and curry paste are international recipe powerhouses perfect for making Gari.
Just a cup of cassava flour and a tablespoon of curry paste, staples in the international aisle of any a supermarket can add a potent, exotic flavor to many dishes. Gari is a roasted grain of the cassava tuber and is a major product in rural and urban areas of Africa.
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Gari fritters made
with cassava flour and curry
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Cassava belongs to
the Euphorbiaceae family, which is known for plants with milky sap and includes
plants like poinsettias and cotton. Many species contain milky latex, and some
are useful as a source of oil or wax. Cassava is mostly grown on three
continents extensively, Africa below the Sahara desert, tropical South America
and Southeast Asia.
About half of the
world production of cassava is in Africa. Cassava is drought tolerant and
cultivated in around 40 African countries, stretching through a wide belt from
Madagascar in the Southeast to Senegal and to Cape Verde in the Northwest.
Around 70% of
Africa's cassava is harvested in Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, and
Tanzania. Throughout the forest and transition zones of Africa, cassava is
either a primary staple or a secondary food staple.
Farmers in Africa
grow several cassava varieties. There are countless local cassava varieties in
six counties, namely the Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria,
Tanzania and Uganda grouped into
the bitter and the sweet varieties.
In the roots,
cassava is categorized as either sweet or bitter, indicating the toxic levels
of cyanogenic glycosides. Sweet cultivars can produce very tiny amounts, while
bitter ones may produce more than 50 times more.
Bitter cassavas are
toxic until extensively processed to remove the poisonous hydrocyanic acid. The sweet
varieties are grown more extensively in Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Uganda while
the bitter varieties are more common in the Congo, Nigeria, and Tanzania.
The roots are not
eaten fresh but peeled then steamed, fried or roasted when fresh or fermented
in order to diminish the contents of poisonous cyanogenic glycosides, the peel
has a higher concentration than the interior. All plant parts of the cassava
plant contains cyanogenic glycosides with the leaves having the highest
concentrations.
Maize is Africa's
most important food crop; cassava is Africa's second most important food staple
in terms of per capita calories consumed. Cassava is a major source of calories
for millions of African people.
In some countries,
cassava is consumed daily and sometimes more than once a day. In the Congo,
cassava contributes more than 1,000 calories per person per day to the average
diet and many families eat cassava for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Did you know?
A typical curry
paste contains many complex ingredients, including garlic and shallot,
galangal, lemongrass, and kaffir lime peel. Just a spoonful or two of curry
paste infuses countless recipes with an international flavor.
Golden brown Curry
Gari Fritters are a favorite recipe of Western Africa made with ground cassava
flour, hot curry paste and spices fried into delicious snacks.
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| Gari fritters made with cassava flour and curry seasonings |
Cassava and Curry Gari Fritters
Ingredients
2
cups cassava flour
1/2
teaspoon onion powder
1/2
teaspoon garlic salt
1
tablespoon white sugar
1/4
- 1/3 cups water
1-2
cups oil for frying
Directions
In
a large frying pan heat vegetable oil. Add all ingredients, mix well and form
small fritters, fry until golden brown about 3 minutes on each side. Sprinkle
with extra salt or curry powder before serving.
