Ofada sauce is a locally made Yoruba (Ijebu) stew for ofada rice. I must confess that the demand for this recipe in the last few months is over the roof.
So many people wanted to learn how to make ofada stew. The Yorubas call it ayamase.
Here is a delicious looking pot of ofada sauce.
This recipe plus the video at the bottom of this page shows you exactly how to make ofada rice sauce. I suppose you know how to boil rice. 😉 That would be discussed briefly at the bottom of this post.
Why Ofada Sauce?
For long I wondered why people were so crazy about ofada rice and stew. Perhaps it was just the iru (locust beans) that makes the difference or the fact that it is made with just peppers.
Which is more, you wouldn’t find the sour taste that often accompanies regular tomato stew. So this is the winner 😀
One lady in particularly sent me this message “pls teach me how to make ofada sauce before this restaurant finishes my money o” 😀 funny right.
This is how we serve ofada rice in Nigeria.
Ofada stew (sauce) is made with a combination of green peppers and red peppers, then assorted meat, hard-boiled eggs, and palm oil. Below is the complete list of ingredients that I used while making the food you are seeing above.
I used 3 different kinds of peppers. Green pepper should be – like 50 percent, tatashe or shombo should be about 40 percent. Then 2 cups of sliced onions.
Ingredients for Ofada Stew
Two tablespoons of ground crayfish
600g Green Peppers
3 scotch bonnet peppers
500g Tatashe or shombo peppers
2 cups of sliced onions
Assorted meat – 800g
2 cups of palm oil
2 seasoning cubes
6 hard-boiled eggs
salt to taste.
Here are some of the ingredients listed above.
Step 1
Combine the peppers (shombo pepper, scotch bonnet, and green pepper). Blend to a smooth paste.
Don’t forget to remove the seeds in the green pepper and tatashe or shobo before grinding. The seeds can completely alter the taste of your ofada sauce.
It should look like this.
Step 2
I used already precooked assorted meat for this ofada sauce. To precook your meat, wash and season with a teaspoon of salt, 2 stock/seasoning cubes, half cup of sliced onions. add a half cup of water, set on heat, and let it boil for 10 minutes. Add 1 cup of water more and let it cook till it is tender and easy to chew. Set aside.
How To Make Ofada Stew
Step 3
Set a clean pot on heat; add the 2 cups of palm oil. Allow bleaching/ heating for just 2 minutes. Add the remaining sliced onion, the more the merrier.
Stir and allow to fry for a minute.
Step 4
Add the ground pepper combination and allow it to fry for the next 10-15 minutes. Remember to stir occasionally to avoid burning. this is exactly what you get at this point.
Add the pre-cooked assorted meat and stock (meat water).
Step 5
Add two tablespoons of ground crayfish and salt to taste. Also, add the locust bean (iru). Stir and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the eggs and stir.
This is just how to make ofada sauce or stew (Ayamase).
Serve with boiled rice.
How to Prepare Ofada Rice
Ofada rice is another name for Abakiliki (local rice), it is starchy and tastes way better than the foreign rice. Pick out stones and sands from the rice and cook the same way you already know to cook white rice. Some of them have tiny stones others are clean.
Ofada rice is also called abakiliki rice; some are beautiful and robust, while others are not. The best is the one you see in this post.
Serve ofada rice and stew as you can see below. Traditionally, we use the Uma leaves, but you can use just plates as below.
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Ofada Sauce Recipe | Yoruba Foods (Ayamase)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Ground crayfish
- 600 g Green Peppers
- 3 scotch bonnet peppers
- 500 g Tatashe or shombo peppers
- 2 cups of sliced onions
- Assorted meat – 800g
- 2 cups of palm oil
- 2 seasoning/stock cubes
- 5-6 hard-boiled eggs
- salt to taste.
Instructions
- Remove seeds from the shombo peppers and the green peppers.
- Combine the peppers and blend into a paste.
- Season your meat with 2 seasoning cubes, a teaspoon of salt, sliced onions and boil for 10 minutes. Add more water and cook till meat is tender.
- Set a clean pot on heat; add the 2 cups of palm oil. Allow bleaching/ heating for just 2 minutes. Add the remaining sliced onion, the more the merrier.
- Let the onions fry for about a minute before adding the ground peppers. Fry and stir for the next 10-15 minutes before you add the meats.
- Add two tablespoons of ground crayfish and salt to taste. Also, add iru. Stir all together and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
- Serve ofada sauce and ofada rice.
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Video for Ofada Stew (Sauce)
Here is the video for making ofada rice sauce. Several people have made delicious Ofada sauce by following this video.
100 Comments
U can buy iru from watt market. There is one ogoja woman that sells it. Direction : going to watt market from Etagbor, stop at that police check point after ist Bank, go to ur left hand side that tarred road, ask of the woman selling locust beans or u call it dawadawa, u will be directed. I think she is the only person selling it
Thanks for the recipe. I am edo and I love ofada sauce too.
Edo.. Nice I suppose you should know about black soup.. I tried asking her to teach me the black soup recipe but not seen it yet ?
Good morning, thank you for that recipe, now I know how to make ofada rice stew.
Thanks chy.is it that tomatoes would not be added to the peppers?
No tomatoes in this recipe. it is best this way. Chy
No tomatoes will be added I also learnt new thing which is,I should remove the seed of the pepper which I don’t use to do
Thanks so much I will try this recipe
TNKS 4 DIS POST ABSOLUTELY LUV ANY MEAL WIT IRU.
Its nice.Ofada rice origin came from ijebu.And the peppers used there is unripe tomatoes,unripe rodo(bell pepper) and you can add unripe tatase too withe plenty onion.and add what we call iru(dadawa).All blended half way with your blenda at home.you can also mix your oil.70% ground nut oil to 30% palm oil.I assure you to get an awesome result.Not forgetting your diced assorted meats.
Funmi, Thanks for your comment. Chy.
Wow these looks very inviting tanx chy.
if u r in calabar…u can get iru from marian or watt market. just ask d yoruba women. thanks chy
Nike, thanks for you input. Chy.
And here I am thinking tomatoes is needed to prepare this sauce. I also didnt know green pepper can be grinded.thanks for this.
The ofafa sauce looks very healthy and my mouth is already watery,it’s a must have.thanks so much.?
Thanks for this great recipe, but if I may ask: what type if ‘cup’ do you use to measure the oil?
I have a standard measuring cups. One cup is almost the same size as peak milk cup (250ml or 25cl). I explained this in detail in my cookbook. Chy.
Thanks for this great recipe, but if I may ask: what type of ‘cup’ do you use to measure the oil?
Tnxx chy, I am hausa bt am goin to try it this weekend, we really appreciate ur effort…
how can I get your cookbook?
Chy, infact u are a gifted hand with so many Nigerian recipes. I appreciate your newsletters. Pls where can one buy locust beans in port harcourt? Can it be gotten at rumuokoro market? I need to try out this mouth watering dish. Stay blest!
I am not very sure about rumuokoro, just ask those yoruba women that sell yoruba stuff in most market. they are in mile 3 and mile 1 markets.
Just ask the people selling soup condiments for dawadawa
Wow! This ofada sauce looks yummy. I have been hearing about it but haven’t tasted it. Thanks for the recipe. Would try it soon
Thanks for your detailed step to step on making this Ofada stew. I’m really going to try it out, my fear is that it will not be peppery as we (my kids & I) hardly take pepper. Thank you all the same.
Ofada rice didn’t originate from Ijebu.It originated from Ofada town in Ogun State Nigeria near Mowe-Ibafo.That is why the rice is named after the town.Meanwhile you can you any type of rice with the ayamase sauce.Basmati goes down well with it but on the whole to get the best taste the local Ofada rice is still the best.One thing I want to add is that you can fry your assorted meat…not too dry though.Welldone Chy.
Well done, Chy! To think I had been wasting money buying moin moin all these years! Tried the Ofada and moin moin recipes. Hubby asked where I got it from. Lol!
Thank you very much………been married 17years and never tried these.
Thanks a lot Chy. I enjoy every piece of ur article on food preparation. U Whao!!! Me always
Thanks for this recipe but I think it will be pepperish without tomato
Good morning and thank you for wonderful job you’re doing. I’ve enjoyed receiving your mails since I subscribed.
I want to add a comment regarding the ingredients.
You mentioned that the seeds in the pepper should be removed.
In my native Ogun state (the origin of Ofada stew),the seeds are not removed before grinding the pepper. In fact,it is ground with the local grinding stone (things have changed though)
Generally, yorubas don’t remove seeds from pepper before grinding. I don’t think it has any known side effects.
Continue the good work you’re doing.
God bless you.
Thanks for your input @ Bukade Idowu. You can ground both the pepper and seeds when are using just the yoruba pepper species. but then it would be very pepperish. The recipe here used the regular green pepper which helped in terminating souredness and ultimately guaranteed a delicious sauce. 😉
Pls can’t the iru be blended?
Thanks so much Chy for this recipe. Made Ofada sauce for Ofada rice yesterday for dinner and EVERYONE loved it. It was WOW! You are the best darlyn.
Lots of love Chy, I am off to the kitchen to prepare my own delicious Ofada sauce. You rock!
Thks this is a nice one.
Wow. Thanks for this.
God bless you. ?
Keep up the good work, Ma.
With ofada sauce, you can be flexible with the ingredients.
In fact, in the traditional Yoruba recipe, the following are required; dry pepper(ata gbigbe), lots of onions, unriped tomatoes etc. You can blend the locust beans(iru) with the peppers if you wish. And the meat is fried.
Majorly, the unriped peppers, onions and unriped tomatoes are blended half way. It must not form a paste, it must not be smooth. Yoruba’s don’t usually remove seeds from peppers, actually, in this recipe, which is Yoruba local dish, the seed is part of its presentation. Most Yoruba’s consume pepper. And there are different types of iru. But for Ofada sauce, Iru woro is commonly used. Iru woro is the unmarshed iru. This is because seeing iru seedlings in the sauce is also part of its presentation. Please ensure you shop for well fragranced iru(locust beans) cause this would enhance the flavour of your sauce. It is good to end up with both delicious and well flavoured pot of stew.
Thank you!
@bimJESU, Thanks for your wonderful contribution. If most recipes don’t evolve and accomodate closely related ingredients that is easily accessible, it may not be known by many. When you use the popular green pepper, you must remove the seeds. The case is different when you use Yoruba unripe pepper, tomato, etc. In both cases you will certainly end up with ofada suace, one is moderately hot and lush, the other is extremely hot and not smooth. But with same unique Aroma and apeal.
Thanks for the recipe. I will try it today
I tried Ofada Sauce over the weekend and it was wonderful. thanks for the assistance
can I use this normal rice to eat the ofada sauce I mean the common rice like d royal stallion, mama gold etc? please
Sure. why not?
Alright Ma, thank you. I have learnt from your site. God bless you!
I will try this one of these days.
Thank you for sharing this recipe with me, I’ll need more!!!
Pls I’ll like to know if it’s necessary to use d beans (iru) or better still prepare it without d meat!!!
Chy, u are too much. U keep making food more appetizing. Weldon
Thanks a million time Chy,for this ofada rice sauce.
Waoo this is great. And sweet, I won’t to be like u.
Thanks Chy. My family totally loved the delicacy. Keep up the good work.
Thanks chy In sure u ar to much I like this this wonderful i Will try this very soon
I cant express my thanks enough.God bless U ma
Wow nice one. I have been imaging hw dis sauce is prepared. Thanks so much fr adding another menu to my list. God bless you
I love this. Thanks
Thank you so much. I never thought of trying this out. I just did and I am Wow’d!
Thank You For This Emergency Help. Good Evening.
well said on all the comment have read.but literally speaking as a Yoruba Lady from ondo state,origin of ilaje.smiles.the best way to prepare ofada sauce is mainly the combination of lots of peper.why people go for ofada sauce is cause of the perper and the assorted beef put in it nothing more.ofada sauce is meant to be pepprish according to the originator.ofada sauce can be prepared in any way be it ripe unripe peper tomato or no tomato.but it all balls down to three things.perpper and assorted beef alongside with the locust bean.traditional known as iru.@chy great work
@ Sandra, Thanks for opening our eyes! Merry Christmas
Thanks a bunch chy. Just got all my ingredient ready for the new year feast.will definitely get back on the outcome
Nice one chi
Pls is this ofada sauce recipe included in your RICE COOKBOOK???
yes.
Please I really want to prepare this dish.but I am confused about something. Pepper. We have about 3 types of pepper, the hanabero,scotch bonnet and the long chili pepper. Normally, green pepper makes up to 60 percent. Now which pepper do I really use. Is it unripe ata rodo or the green pepper for garnishing meals and salad. Also,I know about removing tatashe seeds but do I remove shombo seeds as well. Please help clear my confusion. Reply through my email. tessybabepassion @yahoo.ca. Thanks.
thanks. i just ran into your page. wow u are the best. men this will be my second home lolz.
i sure will do all these when i get married
nice work you are doing sister. I enjoyed all the comments,thanks. I have learnt new ways of making Ofada sauce. God bless.
I REALLY LOVE THIS..THANKS ALOT MA…
WHAT ABOUT THE STOCK FOR THE ASSORTED?
Hi, Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
I love the presentation! Please what did you use to bring out the shape of the mound of rice? It looks so beautiful.
Put rice in a plate, use spoon to apply a little pressure from top. Turn out on another flat plate.
Hello, I am American based, can I use any kind rice apart from long grain rice?
Pls did you boil the blended pepper mix before frying in the oil?
nope! just blend and fry.
Please can we do without the locust beans? It is hard for me to get it and I want to know if the food will still come out well
Thank you very much God bless
Thanks chi for the ofada rice recipe. I will like to try it but I live in Jos and I don’t think I can get the rice any where here. Pls how can I get it and how much does it cost
Wow…appetizing, going to give it a try BT can it be prepared without the iru. Pls what’s the Igbo name for iru
Thanks chy. How can i get the book in lagos?
Pls call 08035051468.
Thanks for the recipe chy. ORDER FOR YOUR 100% STONE FREE OFADA RICE. To make your Order call/whatsapp this number 07063938208
My specialty.Love it so much.If u stay in portharcourt and you need ofada rice and iru(locusts beans),You can contact me.
My contact no is 08055771557.
Hmmm I hv been hearing of ofada rice tanks for ur recipe u r a gud cook I will try it but my question is can I serve it wt plate instead of leaf
Hi, so when I wanted to try this at home, I couldn’t get the locust bean seeds. All I could find was the locally processed dawadawa… You know the ones that look pressed and flattened… Do you think it’ll give the same flavour when used to cook ofada stew
Plz whats the Igbo name for Iru?
please how do grind the peppers, is ti with hand grinder or machine.
Should I add little tomatoes, am treating ulcer and won’t need plenty pepper but have ofada rice at home bought one paint bucket,
Thanks for recipe.
Ok
Tanks for this ma’m, this wkend is going to be blast
Pls chy am new to this website but I love it b/c I love good food.so my question is base on the ofada rice pl how do I mould it to that shape it looks great.
Thanks so much for your time, I’ve been hearing about ofada rice but hv not teast it but I will try and prepare it by myself
Pls how do you remove the seeds in the pepper such that it wouldn’t hot my hands, cos it sounds scary. And does the removing of seeds include in the small red peppers too? Thanks tho
I don’t think it would hurt your hands, does it? you can try using a kitchen glove.
Thanks for your comment.
Wow tank chy I really appreciate your talent
I think am going to try it.
Pls chy do I really need to add dawadawa to it. I don’t like d teast at times only when am pregnant.
Nope, it’s not compulsory.
Chai! Thanks so much I now know how to prepare ofada sauce, God bless u
I specifically do not like iru(locust beans),without adding it,will I get the taste of the sauce,also, can crayfish be added to thus ofada sauce?
Yeah, you can add crayfish. Iru is an integral part of it.
Thanks for sharing.
Thnx
Omg! Chy, you have saved me. Thanks for the ofada rice recipe. I have tried severally to achieve this with just tomatoes and onions. I don’t know green pepper should be in it. Is there anywhere to buy iru in cross river state? Pls reply.