Yamarita
Nigeria
Editor
Abuja, Nigeria ·
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Abuja, Nigeria ·
Yamarita is yam in an egg and flour coating, fried until the crust is crisp and the inside stays soft. It is a Nigerian treatment of the country's most important tuber, and it is straightforwardly a modern dish rather than an inherited one. The name gives away its logic. Yamarita is yam plus the ending of dundun ata or, by the more commonly repeated account, a play on the Yoruba way of naming a fried thing. Whatever the derivation, it belongs to the same family of inventions as yam chips and yam balls: ways of turning a starch that is usually eaten soft into something you can pick up with your fingers at a party. It sits alongside the older Nigerian yam preparations rather than replacing them. Pounded yam is ceremonial, yam porridge is domestic, yam with egg sauce is breakfast, and yamarita is what appears on a small chops platter next to puff puff and spring rolls. That is a real position in Nigerian eating even if it is a recent one, and the dish has spread well beyond the households that first made it.
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.
Parboil the yam strips in salted water until just tender but still holding their shape, then drain and cool.
In a bowl, mix the flour, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, salt and pepper. This is the batter mix.
Heat vegetable oil in a deep fryer or deep pot to about 175°C.
Dip each yam strip into the beaten eggs, making sure it is well coated.
Coat the egg dipped strip in the batter mix, covering it evenly.
Lower the coated strips carefully into the hot oil, frying a few at a time. Fry until golden brown and crisp.
Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
Repeat with the remaining yam strips.
Serve hot with a dipping sauce.
Personal notes from Laila Yetunde9 reviews
managed to find good puna yam at the afro shop here in leeds. chale, double dipping in egg then the flour with garlic and onion powder gave it a proper crunch! used a bit more paprika than the 1 tsp stated because we like more heat, but it came out so nice oo.
That double dipping trick is so lekker, it gives the best crunch! I also upped the heat by swapping the 1 tsp paprika for 1.5 tsp of Rajah Extra Hot curry powder in 1 cup of flour. Served it alongside our braai yesterday and it disappeared in seconds.
My broer brought two big yams from the market on Saturday so I tried this coating with the beaten eggs and seasoned flour. Sommer popped them straight in the hot oil after parboiling. The kids ate every single strip before I could even make a dip!
Finding proper big yams here in Bristol can be hit or miss, so your brother did well! My children are the exact same, they polish off the crispy strips straight off the tray before I can even serve them alongside my benachin.
herh, in ghana we usually just fry our yam straight in oil without batter paa! but this nigerian method of dipping in beaten egg then coating in flour and thyme is so good. crispy outside and so soft inside. my mother was even impressed oo.
That egg and flour coating technique reminds me so much of making pakoras, though we normally use a spiced gram flour batter! The contrast between the crisp shell and soft centre is brilliant. I served mine with onions cooked down slowly with cumin and mustard seeds, and even my mum agreed it was a proper winner.
Left the yam strips in the salted water a bit too long during parboiling and they started falling apart when I tried dipping them into the 2 beaten eggs. The batter mix of 2 cups flour and thyme didn't stick properly because of that. Took way longer than 40 mins cook time in the end.
parboiled the yam strips for about 8 minutes first so they didnt get mushy when dipping in the egg. Used Snowflake flour with the paprika, thyme and garlic powder mix. Keeping the oil at 175°C was spot on, crispy crust with soft yam inside. Lekker side dish for a braai.
Your 8-minute parboil tip was a lifesaver, my yams held together perfectly when dipping. I'm in the US and had never tried making Yamarita before, but I made a batch for my family's weekend barbecue. I didn't have Snowflake flour so I just used standard all-purpose with your spice mix, and everyone loved how crispy they turned out. Do you use traditional white yams for this, or do sweet potatoes work too? I wasn't entirely sure if I bought the right kind at my store.