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AI-generated photograph: Golden orange yam pottage in a wide shallow black bowl, soft chunks of yam in a thick glossy sauce, a ribbon of dark green spinach through the middle

Home · Recipes · Asaro, yam pottage with spinach

Nigerian · Lunch

Asaro, yam pottage with spinach

white yam · red palm oil · wilted spinach

AI-generated photograph

Asaro is a Yoruba yam pottage: chunks of yam simmered in a red palm oil and pepper sauce until some melt into a thick, golden stew and some stay in soft pieces. Finished with spinach for colour.

Contains: none of the 14 allergens, as written. None of the 14 allergens is in this recipe as written. Stock cubes can contain celery, wheat or soya, so check the packet.

Ingredients

  • 1kg white yam (puna yam)
  • 2 ripe tomatoes
  • 1 red pepper, deseeded
  • 1 scotch bonnet chilli, stalk off (use half for less heat)
  • 1 onion: half for blending, half finely chopped
  • 3 tablespoons red palm oil
  • 1 vegetable stock cube
  • 1 teaspoon salt, then more to taste
  • Half a teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 100g baby spinach

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Let's cook

  1. Cut the yam into rounds, cut off the skin, then cut the flesh into 4cm chunks. Rinse well and leave in a bowl of cold water.
  2. Blend the tomatoes, red pepper, scotch bonnet and half the onion with 100ml water until smooth.
  3. Warm the palm oil in a large pot on a medium heat for 1 minute, just until it melts and turns clear. Do not let it smoke. Add the chopped onion and fry for 3 minutes.
  4. Pour in the blended pepper and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until it thickens and darkens a little.
  5. Drain the yam and add it to the pot with 600ml water, the crumbled stock cube, the salt and the smoked paprika. Stir, bring to the boil, then cover and simmer on a low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the yam is soft right through.
  6. Uncover and mash about a third of the yam into the sauce with a wooden spoon or potato masher, leaving the rest in chunks. Stir gently: the mashed yam thickens it into a creamy pottage. Add a splash of water if it is too thick.
  7. Stir in the spinach and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until it wilts. Taste for salt and serve hot in warm bowls.

Tips

  • Palm oil gives asaro its colour and taste. Look for sustainably certified red palm oil, sold in African shops and the world foods aisle.
  • Stir gently near the end so the chunks keep their shape and the bottom does not catch.
  • Leftovers keep in the fridge for 2 days. Reheat with a splash of water until steaming hot.

Swaps

  • Traditional (no longer vegan): add 2 tablespoons of ground crayfish with the stock cube; this adds crustaceans.
  • No palm oil: use vegetable oil and add a little extra smoked paprika for colour.
  • Mixed pottage: use half yam and half sweet potato.

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