Cooking Peeve: Grinding Ogbono

Some of you know that I store ogbono as seeds because once you grind ogbono, it starts to lose it’s elasticity or viscosity. What is the correct term for this ogbono elasticity sef?

Ogbono is mucilaginous in nature and when stored in powder form, over time, it completely loses this characteristic. Storing it in the freezer may help but I never count on that. This is a major reason why your Ogbono Soup does not “draw” very well.

But I digress.

I love Ogbono soup but not grinding the ogbono seeds. This is because I use a coffee grinder to grind my ogbono.
In Nigeria, we have manual grinders in every Nigerian market and these grind ogbono very well, even when the seeds are not so dry.

Outside Nigeria and for those in Nigeria who do not want to use the manual grinder, we use coffee grinders or spice grinders. These do not do such a good job of grinding ogbono seeds because let’s face it, the manufacturers did not have ogbono in mind when making these coffee and spice grinders hence their inability to grind ogbono very well.

This is even more frustrating during the rainy season (in Nigeria) and winter (in temperate regions) when ogbono seeds are damp.

Here are the steps I take to ensure that I get a fine powder of ogbono with the kitchen appliance that is available to me:

1. I start by cleaning the ogbono seeds with a brush. The seeds can get dusty from the particles that are released when they knock against each other in the storage container.
2. Toss and blow off the dust and small particles.
3. Grind in small batches following the instructions for your coffee/spice grinder.
4. When done, you will notice that there are some well ground ogbono, some not so well ground and some even look like they have not been put through the grinder. 😀
5. Pour into a plate and grind more batched of ogbono seeds.
6. Sift with a sieve with a wire mesh.
7. Wrap the coarsely ground ones in aluminium foil or put in a container and set aside for next time you want to grind ogbono.
8. Grind the sifted one a second time to get the finest particles.

Due to all these grinding, sifting and regrinding, this cooking task is high up there in my list of cooking peeves.

These steps are better watched than read about so see the video below for more insight. Comment below to tell me about that cooking task you do not look forward to.

Where to buy my type of coffee grinder: in USA | in UK (Krups Twin Blade Grinder).



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