How to prepare akple or banku | The food of the Ewes of Ghana

Akple with ground pepper with some local fried fish ready for intake.

In this article you'll know:

1. What is akple?

2. Ingredients for preparing akple.

3. Ways of preparing akple.

4. Serving and eating banku.

5. The reason why people do not joke with akple.

6. Take away.

Now you are about to know more about one of the African Ghanaian foods that has transcended borders because of its uniqueness in taste, energy provision and easy affordability.

Let's Get Started

1. What is akple?

Akple is a type of food that is prepared in Ghana and particularly among the tribe called EWE located in the Volta Region of Ghana. Talking about food, there are many types of foods in Ghana and among the Ewes but the favorite food of a typical Ewe or Anlo person is akple. What at all is so special about this food? Do not worry as you will be fed with information that answers all your questions about this type of food.

2. Ingredients for preparing akple

• corn powder
• corn dough
• cassava dough
• salt 
• water

There are actually two kinds of akple or banku depending on the ingredients made use of. The first one is the one prepared using corn powder, cassava dough, salt, and water then the second is the one prepared using corn dough, cassava dough, salt, and water.

Preparation of akple 

1. Set a fire and have pot washed on and put on the fire.
2. Pour in two sizeable cups of water and add some amount of salt.
3. Pour a small amount of corn powder into the water and stir with the banku stick. (This type of stick is specially made and sold by carpenters. )
4. Stir occasionally and allow it to boil very well.
5. After it has boiled well, add the corn powder small at a time as it is stirred to obtain a solid and well-mixed combination. The stirring is done against the rim of the pot to break lumps that can form in it and too much or too small pouring of corn powder should be avoided to prevent it from being too hard or too soft respectively.
6. Pour 11/2 (one and a half) handfuls of cassava dough into a bowl, add water, and mix evenly into a thick mixture. Add this to the akple after stirring it very well and stir thoroughly again till you see that it is very smooth. Note: The cassava dough makes the akple very smooth and tasty for easy swallowing and also adds to its lifespan as akple or banku cooked without it spoiling earlier than the one with the cassava dough.
7. Cover and allow to cook well on the fire and after that tie akple or banku white rubbers or pour into a bowl.

Preparation of banku

• Set fire and get a clean pot ready.
• Pour some amount of corn dough and cassava into the pot, add water, and mix very well to get a watery but smooth mixture it should have a little thickness, and add salt.
• Put the mixture on fire now and use the banku stick to stir occasionally as it thickens to form a solid mixture.

• As it thickens to be more solid, then stir it hard against the rim of the pot so that it mixes well and all lumps will be broken.

• Cover it and allow it to cook properly and stir again and then as it has cooked, tie in white banku rubber.

3. Serving and eating banku

Mostly, when a person is in a hurry he or she goes in for ground pepper but we will also learn about one of the soups that goes well with the akple also.

For the pepper, get onion, tomato, fresh pepper and salt.

Wash the onion, tomato, fresh pepper and pour in a grinding bowl. Add salt to it and grind but make sure to remove the tomato seeds out before grinding. Get some fried or grilled tilapia or any other fried fish and mix them inside the ground pepper, cut some onions, tomato and maybe some pear to garnish the pepper and serve with your akple.

Banku with fried egg, shitor and pear

Serving with okro stew

Ingredients: fresh okro, tomato, onion, pepper, fried or boiled chicken or fried fish, salt, seasoning mix, spices, garden eggs, tomato paste.

Procedure

1. Wash and cut the tomato, and pepper into a blender and blend very well.
2. Wash okro and garden eggs and cut into small pieces.
3. Prepare your stew first by pouring in oil in a hot pan and adding sliced onions and tomato paste, stir and allow it to simmer well and then add the blended pepper.
4. Boil the cut okro and garden eggs separately and after that add it to the stew.
5. Add your salt and taste seasonings and allow to cook well.
6. Taste to check the salt level and add your meat or fish.
7. Make sure it cooks well and you are all set to have a really interesting meal even though it isn't prepared by the native people whose favorite food it is.

More on preparing okro soup and stew

Banku is such a food that can be served with a variety of accompaniments like a stew as well. Even with one ball of banku, you are heavily energized for the day because it gives energy for daily activities.

Another delicious way to serve banku is with the almighty okro soup or okro stew. Children, adults, and all age groups of people really love this kind of combination with banku as the taste is so pleasing and even quitting eating at times can be a difficult task because the taste of this whole combination is so captivating. Anytime we want to eat banku to our full satisfaction, then this combination is the way to go. Just some few ingredients and within a short time our meal is ready with such a special aroma and taste to satisfy us.

4. Reasons why Ghanaian(Ewes) never joke with akple

For a fact, the major food crop in some part of Ghana or even the whole country is maize and from this major food commodity comes a whole lot of kinds of foods it can be used for. Interestingly, this important and special food has very significant impact on its consumers hence in the country no joke about it is accepted and when the prices shoot up, a major uproar is created which is not a good experience at all.

• Easy to prepare.
• A kind of very delicious meal to enjoy.
• Very affordable as this is the food people eat everyday to manage living.
• It is such an energy-giving food. Maize as very well known has a major food nutrient which is carbohydrate that gives it the ability to provide the consumers a lot of energy for any kind of work whether farming, carpentry, fishing, trading, masonry and many more.

5. TAKE AWAY

The process of cooking akple or banku as has been stated or ordered in this article is a very simplified approach to cook it and have the most out of it. Now maize is also used to prepare three different kinds of porridges. The first one is the use of corn powder, the second the use of corn dough and the third is the use of maize that the outer seed coat or pericarp is remove. A type of maize is also used for pop corn and a whole lot of other amazing foods. 

A young boy at the swish oven cooking akple very seriously.

As banku or akple is the local food for the ewes especially, everyone from a very young age is taught how to prepare this food because this is one of the cultural identities of the people. 

READ ALSO:   What is dzenkple ?

Dzenkple is also a type of akple which is common among the Ewes but can also be found among the Gas and most especially the major food that they use for their festival. This kind of akple is called so even though it can also be referred to as akple, a few differences exist between the two and this is what we will look at right here. 

How to prepare dzenkple_

To prepare dzenkple, there needs to be the availability of water used to boil a fish like tilapia or any other kind, meat etc. Let's see how to prepare dzenkple with tilapia which in the Ewe language is called "AKPA DZENKPLE".

• Get the big kind of tilapia and wash them nicely, remove the gills and pour in a pot.
• Add sliced onions, spices, salt and any other appropriate seasoning elements and add a considerate amount of water.
• Boil over a moderate heat to make sure the tilapia is well boiled.
• After boiling the tilapia, use a laddle to dish out the tilapia and you can now add more water, salt, maggi, ground pepper, and palm oil.
• Allow it to boil very well and then pour in your corn powder and stir very well with the banku stick. 

Fishermen enjoying dzenkple on shore

Dzenkple as stated can be cooked using different kinds of meats or fishes and it is a very delicious food to enjoy. Fishermen love it too because it gives a great energy to work tirelessly and likewise do farmers also. Ghanaian foods always come in their own unique nature and taste that make them absolutely worth trying.

What is Tsorkple?

Tsorkple is an Ewe word which means leftover akple or banku. In a more informal way, this is popularly called yester banku and it is a food loved by some of the folks because of its characteristic attributes. Anytime the food is left overnight and has to be eaten the next day, it is a good thing to heat it before eating but some people also love it cold. After consumption some people feel sleepy but some it gives them more energy as it is normally put. 

Read more about tsorkple

How long does it take to finish preparing akple or banku?

About 15-20 minutes