Tuwon Masara (Corn Meal Swallow) Recipe

Tuwon masara is maize swallow, and the name is Hausa and literal: tuwo for the cooked mass, masara for maize. It is one of the everyday staples of Northern Nigeria and among the plainest things the region cooks, which is entirely by design. It is the same family as tuwon dawa, made from guinea corn, and tuwon shinkafa, made from rice, and Hausa households treat the three as distinct rather than interchangeable. Masara gives a paler, milder, slightly sweeter tuwo than dawa, and it is the version most commonly compared to polenta by people trying to explain it. The comparison is fair on ingredient and misleading on treatment: polenta is seasoned and enriched, while tuwon masara is cooked in plain water with nothing added, because its job is to carry the soup rather than to compete with it. That is what the northern soups are for. Miyan wake made from beans, miyan taushe with pumpkin and groundnut, miyan zogale from moringa, miyan kuka from baobab leaf, miyan ridi from sesame. Tuwon masara goes with any of them, and with any Nigerian soup from further south. The corn is dried, ground to a medium consistency and sieved fine, and the resulting flour is stirred into boiling water and worked smooth.