How to Make Awara (Tofu, Soyabean Cake)
Lagos, Nigeria · View all recipes
Overview
Awara is Northern Nigerian soy bean cake, and it is one of the clearest examples of an introduced crop becoming a genuinely local food. Soy beans are not indigenous to West Africa. Awara, as the Hausa make and eat it, is not found anywhere the crop came from. What separates awara from tofu is the frying. The process to the curd stage is the same: beans are soaked, ground, strained to a milk, heated, and set with an acid or a mineral coagulant, then pressed. Where East Asian tofu is usually finished at the press, awara is cut, seasoned and fried until the outside is golden and firm. That frying step is the dish, and it produces something with a texture and a flavour of its own. It is street food and snack food, sold ready made across the north because the process at home is long. Awara is served hot with ground pepper and oil, and increasingly with sliced fresh pepper, cabbage and cucumber alongside. It is eaten with pap or kunu at breakfast, and at any hour after that. It is also the north's most practical answer for anyone eating no meat, which is a role it has held far longer than the word vegetarian has been in common use in Nigeria.
AFN Heritage Note
Awara is documented as a Hausa preparation of Northern Nigeria, where soy beans, introduced to West Africa as a commercial crop in the 20th century, are curdled and pressed in the manner of tofu and then fried. The frying stage distinguishes it from the East Asian preparations from which the curd technique derives.
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
Soak the soy beans overnight. Drain, then grind in a blender or food processor with about 3 cups of water.
- 2
Strain the ground beans through cheesecloth or a fine sieve.
- 3
Pour the strained milk into a large pot and boil over medium heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring frequently. Watch it closely, as the milk boils over easily.
- 4
Reduce the heat and add the lime or lemon juice without stirring. The curd should start to form. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and set aside for 1 hour.
- 5
Transfer the curds into a moulding container lined with cheesecloth.
- 6
Fold the cloth over the curds and place a small weight on top to press out the liquid.
- 7
Leave under the weight for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the block holds together. Remove the block from the mould.
- 8
Cut the awara into the shape you want. Mix your spices with a little water in a bowl, toss the awara to coat, and shallow fry until golden brown.
- 9
Make a sauce with the onions, pepper and vegetables, add the awara and mix. Serve hot.
Africook’s Notes
Personal notes from Jennifer Ezeokoli- Do not stir after the coagulant goes in. Stirring breaks the curd as it forms and gives a crumbly block that will not hold together under the press.
- The amount of coagulant sets the texture. More gives a firmer awara, less a softer one, so adjust to what you want rather than following the quantity blindly.
- For a more fibrous, meatier texture, cover the pressed block in water in a sealed container and freeze it, then thaw before use. The ice crystals open up the structure.
- Magnesium chloride, apple cider vinegar, Epsom salt and calcium sulphate all work as coagulants in place of citrus.
- It does not keep. Awara is best eaten within 24 hours, and refrigeration extends it a few days at a real cost to the flavour. Make what you will eat.
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