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Ghana is a bubbling country with a lot of events, parties, and festivals and for all of these, there are specific Ghanaian party dishes that you can’t afford to leave out There’s always something to celebrate, and for such occasions, nailing the perfect dish is a priority. You just can’t afford to go wrong with the food you serve.
In this article, we’ll be talking about the best dishes to serve at a Ghanaian party. Whether it’s a poolside party, wedding party, birthday, or even a corporate event, this article has you covered.
One thing is for sure, Ghanaians love to party. There are always celebrations going on here and there. Let’s not get started on the number of festivals that run through the country every year.
Ghanaian Festivals
There are about 70 festivals celebrated annually in Ghana. These festivals are highly intriguing and erupt with multicultural propensities. Here are some of the top manually celebrated festivals in Ghana by category.
Traditional Festivals
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Homowo:
This is one of the biggest and grandest festivals celebrated yearly. It is organized and takes place every May and signifies the history is one of a season of despair due to famine, which was eventually followed by a bumper harvest of plant food and fish, as such homowo – referring to the act of ‘hooting at hunger’.
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Aboakyir:
Celebrated on the first Saturday in the month of May, it is a competitive deer hunting game.
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Bakatue:
this is done every July and symbolizes the commencement of the fishing season.
Food, Music, and Art Festivals.
This is probably where your attention lies. Yes, Ghanaians have a lot of food, music, and art festivals. Here’s a list:
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Chale Wore Festival:
marks exchanges between Ghana-based artists/educators and international cronies in Accra’s streets.
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Sabolai Festival:
This takes place every December in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. It is an African Indie music festival that showcases the best of original music from the mainstream and alternative scene, the contemporary scape to the traditional tableau, fusions, and non-conventional streams. Онлайн казино Vavada Россия получило много положительных отзывов по нескольким ключевым причинам, которые сделали его привлекательным и надежным игровым ресурсом. Казино Вавада имеет лицензию и регулируется соответствующими органами, что обеспечивает юридическую защиту и безопасность для игроков. Благодаря наличию лицензии, онлайн казино Vavada зеркало в России может предложить игрокам достаточно большой выбор развлечений. Казино онлайн сотрудничает с известными поставщиками игр, которые используют качественные технологии. Поэтому игроки могут рассчитывать на лучшие игры.
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Accra Food Festival:
Foodies from Accra and around the world gather to sample delectable food in a variety of sampling tents at reasonable pricing.Traditional and non-traditional cuisines serve the best of Ghanaian and international dishes in a relaxing atmosphere. -
Panafest:
Parties
Apart from festivals, Ghanaians throw a lot of parties.
- Beach Parties
- Birthday parties
- Wedding after parties
- Corporate parties, etc.
Top Delicacies to Serve at a Ghanaian Party
Before we head into the topic of the day, let’s talk a little about Ghanian cuisine.
Ghanaian dishes mainly consist of tropical crops like plantain, cassava, rice, beans, yam, millets, and so many more. These foodstuffs are incorporated in their day-to-day meals, for their nourishments and their general enjoyment.
Top Dishes to Serve at a Ghanaian Party
1. Jollof Rice – Ghana Style
Jollof rice is a much-loved festive dish that is often served at weddings, parties, and other large gatherings.
Jollof, often known as jollof rice, is a popular West African rice dish. Long-grain rice, tomatoes, onions, spices, vegetables, and meat are often cooked together in the same pot, however, the ingredients and preparation methods vary by location.
Today, every West African country has at least one variation of Jollof, which both divides and unites the region. Each country and family add their own spin and interpretation, which may be the source of the ferocious competition seen on social media, at parties, and in street-side talks.
For instance, a Ghanaian would stew the rice with the sauce and meat in a one-pot dish. In Nigeria and Cameroon, red peppers are often blended with the base ingredients of onions, tomatoes, and chili to add vibrancy and a subtle sweetness.
Ingredients for Ghana jollof rice
- 3 cups | 750g long grain parboiled rice
- Tomato Stew
- Onions
- Stock Cubes
- Pepper
- Salt
- Thyme
- Curry powder
Get This Things Ready First
- Tomato Stew
- Chicken or any other meat (wash and cut your chicken or any meat into pieces. Cook with thyme, knorr cubes, and chopped onions. Your cooking time here depends on whatever meat you will be using when done grill it in an Oven. You may also fry it (if you want) this is to give it a nice look which is more presentable especially when you have a guest.
- Parboil the rice, rinse the parboiled rice and put it in a sieve to drain.
Directions
- Pour the chicken or meat stock and the tomato stew into a sizeable pot and leave to boil
- Add the parboiled rice, curry powder, salt, and pepper to taste, and make sure your water level should be at the same time level of the rice so that all the water dries up at the same time the rice is cooked.
- Cover the pot and leave to cook on low medium heat so the rice won’t burn before the water dries up
- Taste to Confirm
2. Akpeteshie
Akpeteshie is the national spirit of Ghana, produced by distilling palm wine or sugar cane. It is popular throughout West Africa and goes by many names including apio, ogoglo, ogogoro (Ogog’) , VC10, Kill Me Quick, Efie Nipa, Kele, Kumepreko, Anferewoase, Apiatiti, Home Boy, Nana Drobo, One Touch among others.
Nothing starts a party like liquor without the standardized alcohol content. This drink is perfect to get your guests ready for the late-night party cruise and fun.
3. Fufu and Light Soup (Goat Meat)
A traditional Ghanaian dish, fufu, and light soup is a delectable dish that you won’t want to miss out on when it comes to Ghanaian cuisine. Light Soup is a traditional Ghanaian soup made by the GaDangme(or Ga) people of the Greater Accra Region.
Originally formulated as a ‘Tomatoes-Base Sea Fish Light Soup’ called ‘Aklo(or Aklor)’ for fishermen off the coast of Accra, it evolved over time into a soup made with both ‘fish and goat-meat,’ or ‘fish and lamb-meat,’ or ‘exclusively the meat of the livestock of choice,’ and which the GaDangmes(or Gas) call ‘Toolo Wonu.’
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon of peeled, fresh grated ginger (about an inch to 1 1/2 inch)
- 2–3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground aniseed (sekoni) or other seasonings of your choice
- 1 heaping teaspoon of no-salt seasoning of your choice.
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of ground dried red chili pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste, or substitute seasoning salt)
- 2 small bay leaves
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 3 whole kpakpo shito, whole, if available and (if not, substitute your choice of pepper(s), top(s) sliced off (about a tablespoon), or omit altogether
Process
- Put the goat meat in a soup pot and season it with the above ingredients. Stir the goat meat well, and add 1/2 cup water to the pot. Cover, bring the water to a boil, lower the heat to simmer while you prepare a second pot with 4 oz of washed tomatoes, whole (1 large or 2 small-to-medium. I used 4 small Campari), 4 oz of peeled onion (about 1 medium), Fresh whole red chili peppers to taste (probably 1 to 3, depending on type and heat), tops cut off and seeded if you like, 4 cups of water.
- Bring that water to a boil and simmer 10 or 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft, then remove and find them together (in a blender or anasanka), and return them to the water in the second pot, along with 4 more cups of water.
- Stir in 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, let it simmer a few minutes, and add the broth to the meat. Let the soup simmer until the goat meat is tender, then remove the goat meat and, for a nice clear soup, strain the broth through a sieve, into the using a spoon if necessary to help force some of the ground vegetables through the sieve (scrape the underside of the strainer with a spoon).
- Return the meat to the pot and adjust the seasonings (salt, onion, tomato, pepper, etc.) to taste. This may need to simmer for a couple of hours: goat meat tends to be tougher than beef. Add a little more water if necessary.
4. Pito
Pito is a type of beer made from fermented millet or sorghum in northern Ghana, parts of Nigeria, and other parts of West Africa. It is made by small producers and is typically served in a calabash outside the producer’s home where benches are sometimes provided. Pito can be served warm or cold.
At bush bars, wedding ceremonies, funerals, traditional parties, this drink is becoming hot-cake and is well received especially by men. There are two variations of this drink; the alcoholic variations and its nonalcoholic sibling.
To prepare this Ghanaian dish, first, sorghum or millet is taken to the mill to be ground into powder, or this can be done in a blender. After the sorghum or millet is milled, the powder is mixed with water, stirred thoroughly, and left to settle.
Once settled, the water on top of the mash is removed, and the remaining mash is boiled. When the boiling is finished, the mixture is poured into a different container and left to ferment for 24 hours. Once the fermentation process is completed, the mixture is boiled once more and then strained to separate the solid substance from the liquid. Your pito is then ready for consumption after the liquid cools down.
5. Banku
When it comes to parties, Banku is the second most popular Ghanaian dish served at Ghanaian parties. It is second to the popular jollof rice and is mostly eaten by heavy party eaters.
It is distinguished by its sour taste, which comes from several days of fermentation of the corn to make corn dough.
Today, most banku variations are produced with a mixture of corn and cassava dough. Despite the fact that fermentation is an ancient method that has been done in Africa for generations, corn and cassava are assumed to have been introduced to Africa in the 16th century. Prior to the introduction of cassava and cornmeal, banku could have been fermented millet, sorghum, or a combination of yam and plantain.
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Mix together the corn and cassava dough with water until smooth, then transfer to high heat and stir continuously.
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Depending on how moist the processed dough was at the start, more water may be added so far as the consistency is solid, but not too firm.
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Turn the heat down to medium and allow the banku to steam in the pot, surrounded by 1 or 2 tablespoons of water. This should take 5 minutes.
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Give the banku one final stir then take off the heat.
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To serve, scoop the desired amount into a wet bowl and swirl around until balls are formed.
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Banku may be served with okro stew, fante, or grilled tilapia with shito.
Yam Party Recipes
6. Yam Balls
Yam balls are delectable snack-like dishes that are served mostly as appetizers at Ghanaian parties. They are easy to make and are very appealing to the eyes which makes it a perfect party dish.
To prepare this delicious Ghanaian dish, you’ll be needing:
- 250 g of peeled as diced Yam or Potatoes 1 tablespoonful
- 500 ml water
- ½ tsp salt
- 100 g of roughly shredded smoked Mackerel
- 1 finely diced medium Onion
- 130 g of finely diced mixed Peppers (Red, Green and Yellow)
- 1 egg yolk
- 3 tbsp full of milk or stock of Butter Quarter
- 1 tbsp of a teaspoon of freshly milled Black or White Peppercorns
Frying
- 1 l of Sunflower, Groundnut, or Rapeseed oil
- 2 beaten Eggs
7. Yam Canapés
Ingredients needed for this Ghanaian dish
- 10 slices of yam, sliced thin
- Sunflower oil
- 1/2 ripe avocado
- 1 medium potato, boiled or baked whole until soft
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped bell peppers
- Chopped red pepper and spring onions, for garnish
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Preparation
To Make the Yams:
- Trim around each round slice of yam to form a roughly square shape, then cut into four equal parts.
- Have a tray ready and line it with some kitchen paper. Shallow fry the yam pieces in a little sunflower oil, turning them over until lightly brown and crispy on both sides. You’ll need to do this in batches in order to have enough time to turn each one over. Place each piece on the lined tray to drain off any excess oil.
- To make the filling, saute the chopped garlic and bell peppers in the little oil left from frying the yam for about a minute on low heat. Cut the boiled potato in half and scoop out the soft (hopefully) inside. Add to the pan, along with the avocado. Mix/mash well to combine all the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. Take off heat.
To Assemble:
- To assemble the canapé in such a way that the filling doesn’t ooze out when you sandwich the pieces together, spread a tiny bit of the filling on one piece of yam then pierce another piece of yam with a cocktail stick (with the red pepper and spring onion garnish on top, if you wish) just far enough that you can place it on neatly and slightly pierce the bottom half without squashing the filling out.
There, you have it, 7 perfect Ghanaian party dishes. Serve your guests one or more of these and you’re guaranteed a successful party with satisfied guests.
Suggestions For Best Pepper Serveware and Party Supplies:
