Obe ata

Obe ata is a stew or sauce at the heart of Yoruba cuisine, eaten across Nigeria, Benin and Togo. Cooks treat it as a mother sauce, comparable to French mother sauces or Mexican mole, because other sauces and dishes are built on it, and it can serve as the base for jollof rice. It is made by pureeing tomatoes, a variety of peppers and onions, then sauteing the puree in oil, often groundnut oil or palm oil, with stock and spices such as thyme, garlic and ginger. Some recipes add iru, bay leaves, curry powder or dried crayfish, and some cooks roast the vegetables first. The finished stew is lightly spicy and savoury. It is eaten with plain rice, yam and bread, and also as a dip for bread, yam, chips or fries. Related Yoruba sauces and stews include ata din din, ofada stew, ayamase and agoyin.