Garri Processing

Garri processing is the West African technique for turning cassava roots into a dry, granular, shelf-stable staple food. Peeled and washed cassava tubers are grated or crushed into a wet mash, sometimes mixed with palm oil, then packed into a porous sack and pressed for one to twenty four hours to squeeze out excess liquid and begin removing the root's natural toxins. The pressed mash is sieved to separate it into granules, then fried, or roasted, in a large metal pan, with or without added palm oil, a heating step that both dries the granules and finishes destroying the toxic compounds naturally present in cassava.