Ogbono Soup

Ogbono soup is a staple soup in Nigerian cuisine, particularly significant in Igbo culinary tradition, made with ground dry ogbono seeds that act as a thickener and give the soup its distinctive thick, mucilaginous texture and black or brown color. It typically combines the ground seeds with palm oil, water, and meat or fish, along with leaf vegetables such as bitterleaf and celosia, chili peppers, crayfish and tomatoes, and can be combined with egusi for variation. It is widely eaten across West and Central Africa, including Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo and Benin, and is traditionally served hot alongside a starch such as fufu, yam or garri.