In English, it is called the Calabash nutmeg. Other cultural names are Ehuru, Ehu, Posa, Ikpoosa, Iwo, Erhe and Gudan Miya.
One of the blessings of being a food blogger is being able to try experiments on a whim. I started cooking with Ehuru in 2013. I believe my first foray into using this spice was when I made Abacha and Nkwobi for the very first time. I loved the aroma, and how very much it reminded me of nutmeg. No wonder it is called calabash nutmeg. A friend’s mum was kind enough to give me the ground version, which lasted for a while, until I ran out, and needed to use the seeds itself. I remember asking for help on how to crack it. All the suggestions came back saying dry roast it in a pan, and use a nut cracker, bash it with a heavy object, or crack with your teeth. I don’t have a nut cracker, so the only option left was my teeth. Very annoying process, I tell you. The shell would either crack in half, and you are forced to pry it apart with your nails which can be very painful. I must have wasted quite a lot of Ehuru, because if it didn’t come apart quickly from the shell, it was unto the next one. I never looked forward to cooking with this spice at all.
This was until Christmas Eve when I wanted to season our 3 bird roast. Ooooh, did you check out the result on Instagram? First we placed a guinea fowl inside a duck, and stuffed both inside a goose. It was such fun. I will post a link to the video below. Anyways, I had cooked till the point of exhaustion on Christmas Eve. By the time I got to Funmi’s I was almost asleep on my feet, but we had to marinade the birds. I asked Funmi for her spice grinder, and she said it had broken. Oh dear. So, I asked her for a nut cracker, she said for what? I said for cracking the Ehuru. Her response was epic. You mean, you are not supposed to grind the entire thing whole, with total bewilderment. I said noooooooooo, you are meant to crack the shell open, and extract the nut inside. She said oops, I didn’t know that. I have been cooking with Ehuru using your recipes, and I have always blitzed the entire thing whole. Ah, I didn’t know o, and so we had a good belly laugh. See how rote routine Nigerian cooking can be sometimes. We don’t know why we do some things, we have just followed tradition, and there may be no logical reason behind some methods. Who would have thought you could use the nut whole, without adverse effects to your soup.
Anyways, I said, you know what, I am tooooooo exhausted to start cracking these nuts with my teeth or bashing them against the kitchen counter, so we are going to blitz away with the nuts whole after dry roasting. If you saw the picture of all I cooked on Xmas eve, you will understand why. The dry mill had broken, so our only option was the blender. Magic happened. The blender removed the shell, exposing the nuts and crushing it to a powder. Our eyes widened that night. Total freak incident. We weren’t expecting it, so we didn’t record it. I tried it again at home and Yes people, it worked AGAIN!!!!! No more cracking Ehuru with your teeth which is dangerous, or bashing the nut and prying the shell open to extract the nut, which is painful. Use a blender. Welcome to 2015, Welcome to The New Nigerian Cookery.
1. You will need your Ehuru seeds. Other names for it are Posa – the Ilajes, Iwo for the Itsekiri’s and Erhe for the Urhobos. The Hausa’s also call it Gudan Miya. I had no idea until I posted this picture on Instagram. Some food education right there. Click on the comments to see people’s responses.
3. Once the nuts have sufficiently browned, transfer to a blender or spice grinder.
The first #TheNewNigerianCookery for the year. This came to me totally by accident on Xmas eve. Funmi and I were going to use Ehuru and Uziza as a component of the seasoning for our 3 bird toast. Prior to that day Funmi had always blitzed the nut whole in her dry mill. I told her nooooo, you are supposed to remove the shell. She said oops ???. I didn't know that. Oh well, it can't be poisonous or we would all have died since, including you. It was a good reminder how rote routine Nigerian cooking can be. We don't know why we do some things, we have just followed tradition, and there may be no logical reason behind some methods. Who would have thought you could use the nut whole, without adverse effects to your soup. Anyways, I said, you know what, I am tooooooo exhausted to start cracking these nuts with my teeth or bashing them against the kitchen counter, so we are going to blitz away with the nuts whole after dry roasting. If you saw the picture of all I cooked on Xmas eve, you will understand why. The dry mill had broken, so our only option was the blender. Magic happened. The blender removed the shell, exposing the nuts and crushing it to a powder. Our eyes widened that night. Total freak incident. We weren't expecting it, so we didn't record it. I tried it again at home and Yes people, it worked AGAIN!!!!! No more cracking Ehuru with your teeth which is dangerous, or bashing the nut and prying the shell open to extract the nut, which is painful. Use a blender. Welcome to #TheNewNigerianCookery ???
and Voila!!!!!, your Ehuru de-shelled and blitzed.
No more hurting your teeth trying to crack it, or bashing against a surface, which I must add isn’t 100% effective. many a time, I over bashed and splintered the seed inside, which was difficult to pry away from the nut, and I would bin it. With this method, you can de-shell 20 pieces at once, no sweat. Think of it like peeling beans in a blender or food processor. Don’t you just love Happy Kitchen Accidents.
Happy new year dear.This is BRILLIANTTTT!Still had the teeth cracking thing when cooking this christmas.Pretty annoying. I just had to say something.I am a regularly ‘ghost’ reader and tell anyone who cares to listen to check out your website.
Beautiful, another plus from you dearest Dunni. Compliments!
DUNNI IS MY FOOD HERO..I just want to meet you in person..