Achi

Achi is not achara: two similar words, two different things

Achi is the Igbo name for the seed of Brachystegia eurycoma, a tree of southern Nigeria and western Cameroon, and by extension for the flour ground from it. Achara is a different ingredient altogether: peeled, chopped stalks of a tall grass, which sources call elephant grass, and which give ofe achara its name. The confusion is understandable, because achi is often the thickener in that very pot, so the two words land in the same bowl.

Other languages have their own names, though the spellings change from source to source: akolodo or ekalado in Yoruba, ukung in Efik, okwen or okweri in Edo. Recipe writers also say "achi soup" when achi is the thickener, for example oha with achi. There is no documented standard dish by that name, so take it as a label rather than a fixed recipe.

From flat seed to powder

The seeds are small, flat discs, about 14 millimeters (roughly half an inch) across in a physical-properties study, well under half the width of an ogbono kernel. They are cracked, boiled, dehulled and ground. Sellers offer them unhulled, dehulled or as ready powder, and for most US shoppers the powder is the practical choice. Cooks who start from dehulled seed grind them in a dry mill at home.

Gel, not slime: what achi does that ogbono does not

When achi flour meets water it swells into a gel with a gummy feel. That is why it gives a soup body rather than the long strings of draw soups. The goal is a soup that coats a swallow but still pours: one recipe describes the target as neither thick nor watery, just in between.

Achi also keeps working. It thickens as the pot simmers and again as it stands, and one Nigerian food writer warns that too much at once produces a sludge that takes a lot of water to rescue. Add it in stages and judge only after a few minutes.

Many cooks treat achi, and ofo, as the convenient alternative to cocoyam, which has to be boiled, peeled and pounded until stretchy. Some home cooks writing on recipe sites insist cocoyam is the original. Both camps cook very good soup.

Thickening a pot with achi, step by step

1. Build the base first: stock, palm oil, pepper, crayfish, fish and meat, simmered for about ten minutes so the flavor is already there.
2. Stir the achi with cool or lukewarm water into a pourable paste. This is the step that prevents lumps.
3. Pour or spoon the paste into the simmering pot in portions, stirring quickly. A few cooks sprinkle the dry powder straight onto boiling broth while stirring hard, which works but is the riskier route.
4. Simmer seven to fifteen minutes, depending on the recipe, and check the texture before adding more.
5. Add leaves last, once the soup has body.

Amounts vary a lot. Some recipes use as little as two tablespoons for about six cups of stock, others three or four tablespoons, and one large pot calls for half a cup. For a first try, start small and work upward.

Which soups call for achi, and which usually do not

• Oha soup: achi, ofo or cocoyam all appear in recipes. The oha leaves go in for the last three or four minutes.
• Okazi soup: thickened with achi, ukpo or ofo. One recipe adds achi after the palm oil and cooks it about fifteen minutes before the crayfish and periwinkles. See ukazi leaf for the greens.
• Achi soup with uziza: one modern recipe simmers stockfish and dried catfish, adds fresh fish, palm oil, achi, crayfish and pepper, boils about ten minutes until thick, then stirs in sliced uziza leaf and takes the pot off the heat. Start to finish is about forty minutes.
• Ofe achara: egusi balls, peeled achara, okazi leaf and achi in palm oil.
• Bitterleaf soup: a source notes achi or cocoyam as variations.
• Ofe Owerri: traditionally cocoyam. Some recipe writers say achi can stand in anywhere cocoyam is used, but that is a substitution, not the classic method.

When egusi is already in the pot as balls or ground seed, some cooks leave achi out, since the egusi thickens the soup itself.

Choosing between achi, ofo, ukpo and cocoyam

They are not identical. One Nigerian food writer calls ofo a favorite and achi the least favorite, which tells you how personal the choice is. Each also behaves differently: ofo is dissolved in hot liquid rather than cool, and ukpo comes from a bean that needs long boiling before it is ground. Recipe writers treat the three powders as swaps for one another in oha and okazi, with the caveat that each has its own flavor.

Choosing and storing achi powder

Look for a dry, loose powder that smells mild and slightly earthy, with no sourness and no clumps. A pot uses only a few tablespoons, so even a small pack covers several pots. Moisture is the main enemy, because the powder swells and cakes the moment it meets water: use a dry spoon, close the pack after each use and keep it away from the steam over the stove. Achi comes from a legume-family tree, which matters if someone you cook for avoids legumes: the label's allergen statement is the place to check.

Serving achi soups with pounded yam, and the Notify me list

These soups are made for a firm swallow. A pot with ground crayfish and dried fish suits pounded yam flour, which you can order today. Achi itself is not for sale yet; leave your email in the Notify me form to be told when it is added.