Tuwon Masara (Corn Meal Swallow) Recipe
Abuja, Nigeria · View all recipes
Overview
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.
AFN Heritage Note
Tuwon masara takes its name from the Hausa tuwo, meaning cooked meal, and masara, meaning maize. Maize reached West Africa through Atlantic trade from the 16th century and was absorbed into the existing Sahelian tuwo tradition alongside the older sorghum and millet preparations.
Ingredients
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Dry the maize and grind or blend it.
- 2
Boil water in a pot.
- 3
Divide the corn meal into two portions and set aside.
- 4
Pour one portion into a bowl, add water and mix until smooth. Set aside.
- 5
Gradually pour this paste into the boiling water and mix with a turning stick until smooth. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
- 6
Gradually pour the remaining corn meal into the paste, turning at the same time, until smooth.
- 7
Add a little oil and continue to mix.
- 8
Add a little water, cover the pot and cook for some minutes.
- 9
Open the pot and turn the mixture until smooth.
- 10
Mould as desired and serve with a soup of your choice.
Africook’s Notes
Personal notes from Amarachi Irobi- Divide the meal in two and slake the first half in cold water before it goes into the pot. This two stage approach is what keeps tuwon masara free of lumps.
- The turning stick does work a spoon cannot. A sturdy wooden turner, or omorogun, lets you work against a stiffening mass without breaking anything.
- Sieve the ground corn before use. Coarse fragments will not soften and stay as grit in the finished tuwo.
- Mould while hot and cover. It sets firm as it cools and will not take a new shape once it has.
- Miyan wake, miyan taushe, miyan zogale, miyan ridi and miyan kuka are the standard northern partners, and it works with any southern Nigerian soup as well.
Questions cooks ask
What is the difference between tuwon masara and tuwon dawa?
The grain. Tuwon masara is made from maize and is paler, milder and slightly sweeter. Tuwon dawa is made from guinea corn, which is sorghum, and is darker and earthier. Tuwon shinkafa, from rice, is the third in the family. All three are prepared the same way and Hausa households treat them as distinct dishes rather than substitutes.
Is tuwon masara the same as polenta?
They share an ingredient and not much else. Both are boiled ground maize, but polenta is seasoned, often enriched with butter or cheese, and eaten as a dish in itself. Tuwon masara is cooked in plain water with nothing added, because it exists to carry a soup. Grind and consistency differ too, with tuwo worked much stiffer.
Why is my tuwon masara lumpy?
The meal went into boiling water dry, or all at once. Mix the first half with cold water to a smooth paste, add that to the pot, cook it, then work the dry remainder in gradually. Sieving the corn meal first also matters, since unsieved meal carries coarse fragments that read as lumps however well you stir.
What soups go with tuwon masara?
Any of the northern miyan: miyan wake made from beans, miyan taushe with pumpkin and groundnut, miyan zogale from moringa leaf, miyan ridi from sesame, and miyan kuka from baobab leaf. It also works with southern Nigerian soups such as ogbono, egusi and okra. It is plain by design and takes its character from the soup.
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