How to Cook Egusi Soup at Home: A West African Guide (UAE)

By the Mekazon Kitchen

If you have been searching for how to cook egusi soup in the UAE, you are not alone. It is the West African soup our Nigerian and Ghanaian customers in Dubai ask about most. The good news: with ground melon seeds, red palm oil, crayfish and a handful of leaves, a thick, golden pot of egusi soup is about 45 minutes away. Here is how we make it.

What is egusi soup?

Egusi is the dried, shelled seed of a West African melon (a gourd, not a sweet melon). Ground to a pale flour, it thickens stews into the hearty, slightly nutty soup eaten across Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Togo and Benin. According to Wikipedia's entry on egusi sauce, the dish is associated with the Yoruba people and typically brings together the seeds, oil, leafy greens, seasonings and a protein such as beef, goat, fish or crayfish.

There are two authentic styles: the fried method (egusi crumbled in hot palm oil) and the boiling method (a paste dropped into stock to set in lumps). We give the fried method below because it is faster and more forgiving.

Ingredients for a family pot (serves 5–6)

• Egusi: 250 g ground egusi powder, or 200 g whole egusi melon seeds blitzed dry in a blender until fine.
• Oil: 150 ml unrefined red palm oil. This gives egusi its colour and aroma.
• Crayfish: 3 tablespoons dried ground crayfish.
• Leaves: 2 large handfuls of washed dry bitter leaf (onugbu), or fresh spinach, ugu (pumpkin leaf) or a mix.
• Protein: 700 g beef or goat meat on the bone, plus optional smoked or dried fish. Our Kenyan customers use a handful of sun-dried omena when stockfish is not to hand, and it works beautifully.
• Pepper base: 3 red bell peppers, 2 tomatoes, 1 onion and 1–3 fresh chillies, blended. Add a teaspoon of ground cayenne pepper if you like it hot.
• Seasoning: 2 stock cubes, salt, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 sliced onion. A tablespoon of iru (fermented locust beans) if you have it.

Everything on this list except the meat and fresh vegetables comes from our West Africa Soup & Spices shelf and is delivered across the UAE.

How to cook egusi soup, step by step

1. Boil the meat (15 min)

Season the beef or goat with sliced onion, one stock cube, salt and black pepper. Add water just to cover and simmer until tender. Soak any dried fish in hot water and pick out the bones.

2. Prepare the bitter leaf

Dry bitter leaf needs a proper wash. Cover it with warm water, squeeze and rinse three or four times until the water runs almost clear and the sharp bitterness has softened. The plant is Vernonia amygdalina, known as onugbu in Igbo, ewuro in Yoruba and ndole in Cameroon, and washing it well is the difference between a balanced soup and a bitter one.

3. Fry the egusi (10 min)

Heat the palm oil in a wide pot on medium until it loosens and shimmers; do not let it smoke. Add half of the blended pepper base and fry for five minutes. Now stir in the ground egusi. Keep stirring on a low heat for eight to ten minutes until it stops looking pasty and separates into small golden crumbs. This is the step that gives egusi soup its texture, so be patient.

4. Build the soup (15 min)

Pour in the meat stock, the remaining pepper base, crayfish, the second stock cube and iru. Add the cooked meat and fish. Simmer uncovered for ten minutes, stirring now and then so nothing catches on the bottom. The soup should be thick enough to coat a spoon; add hot water a little at a time if it tightens too much.

5. Add the leaves and finish

Stir in the bitter leaf (or spinach and ugu), taste, and adjust salt and chilli. Simmer three to five minutes more, just until the leaves are tender, then take it off the heat. Egusi soup thickens as it rests, and tastes even better the next day.

What to serve with egusi

Egusi soup is made for a swallow. The classic pairing is eba, made in two minutes from yellow garri or white garri; we walk through it in our how to make eba guide. Pounded yam, semolina fufu or cassava flour fufu are just as good. Ghanaian families often serve it with Ga kenkey or plain rice. Browse the full swallow and flours range to pick your favourite.

Mekazon Kitchen tips

• Do not rush the frying. Under-fried egusi tastes raw and floury. Cook until the smell turns nutty.
• Store palm oil away from light. In a Dubai summer kitchen keep the bottle in a cupboard, not on the windowsill.
• Keep the pantry stocked. Egusi, palm oil, crayfish and dry bitter leaf are all shelf-stable, so a single order from our Nigeria collection or Ghana collection covers several pots.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use egusi powder instead of whole seeds?

Yes. Ground egusi powder and whole melon seeds are the same ingredient at different stages. Powder is ready to fry straight from the pack; whole seeds need a dry blend first. Use them weight for weight.

Why is my egusi soup bitter?

Almost always the bitter leaf was not washed enough. Rinse dry bitter leaf in several changes of warm water, or swap half of it for spinach. Burnt palm oil also adds a bitter edge, so keep the heat medium.

Where can I buy egusi in Dubai?

Mekazon stocks egusi powder, whole egusi seeds, red palm oil, dried crayfish and dry bitter leaf, delivered across Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and the rest of the UAE, with cash on delivery available.

Ready to cook? Shop everything for this recipe in one place in the Mekazon West Africa collection, and taste home this weekend.