wasawasa — Ghana

Wasawasa is a dish built from jaling, dried yam peelings that are ground into a flour and then steamed, giving a grainy, couscous-like result rather than the smooth pounded texture of many other yam or cassava preparations. It is reported as popular in Dagbon and other parts of Northern Ghana, and it is also eaten across several West African countries, including Burkina Faso, Benin and Nigeria, among others, following the movement of Dagomba and related communities and their food habits across the region. To prepare it, yam peelings are dried, then ground into a coarse flour. The flour is sprinkled with water to form small, loose grains, which are then steamed, often in stages with occasional stirring and re-moistening, until the grains are cooked through and tender but still separate. It is mostly eaten with spicy sauces, and it is often garnished with vegetables, accompanied by shea butter or raw groundnut oil, and served alongside fried fish. In some households it is instead served with beans, pasta or salad, showing that the flour itself acts as a base that takes on whatever accompaniment is at hand, much as couscous or other steamed grain flours do elsewhere.