Mangala

What mangala means, and where the references stop

Mangala is one of the least documented names in this whole range, so this section sets out what the references say and where they stop, rather than offering a tidy definition.

• A community cookbook entry on Nigerian dryfish says that whole dried fish are often shaped into a circle and pinned, while mangala is its example of fish cut into pieces instead.
• A community recipe for abacha, the Igbo cassava salad, lists "dried catfish (mangala)" among the fish you can use.
• A fish-types guide says the shiny river fish asa is typically dried in the mangala way, without explaining what that way is.
• Several African grocery sites list no product under the name at all.

None of these entries gives a species, a region of origin or a grade, so this page does not state one. Treat mangala as a market name for a style of dried fish, probably cut into pieces and sometimes described as catfish, and let the pack decide. If a listing does not say which fish it is, that is a reason to ask before you buy.

Coiled whole fish versus cut pieces: what shape tells you

Coiled fish are dried whole, bones and sometimes innards included, which is the likely shape of catfish round. Cut pieces are a different animal in the kitchen. They are easier to count and portion, and as a general rule of soaking, water reaches the middle of a piece sooner than the middle of a thick whole fish. That is reasoning, not a published rule, so test before you trust it.

A test-soak for any dried fish you cannot identify

1. Break off one small piece and cover it with boiling water. A community cookbook on Nigerian dryfish gives anything from one minute to an hour in boiling water, depending on how dry the fish is.
2. If it is still hard, keep soaking in fresh hot water, or move it to the refrigerator for a longer soak. One West African cook notes that soaking time depends on both the fish and how it was dried.
3. Rinse the piece and taste a flake. If it is salty, the pack probably holds a salted fish, and the soaking water needs changing once or twice.
4. Wash the rest properly. Fish oil on the skin attracts dust, sand and sometimes insects.
5. Pull the flesh from the bones and any innards, then use the timing you learned for the whole batch.

Do not leave a bowl of soaking fish on the counter for hours. The CDC's limit for perishable food at room temperature is two hours, or one hour in a hot room.

Abacha: a dish where dried fish is eaten, not just simmered

Most dried fish ends its life in a soup pot, where long simmering forgives a lot. Abacha does not. The Igbo dish is built on boiled, shredded cassava, with oil bean seed, an emulsion of palm oil and potash, ground crayfish, calabash nutmeg and habanero. According to the community recipe, at least one fish must go in, and the options include stockfish, dried catfish (mangala), fried mackerel or smoked fish, all mixed straight into the palm oil sauce.

Nothing cooks the fish afterward, so it has to be fully softened and boned before it touches the dish. Soak and rinse it, flake it small, and check each handful for bones. Use clean tools and a clean bowl, keep leftovers refrigerated, and do not let the finished salad sit out for more than two hours.

In the soup pot: early or late?

Timing follows hardness. In one popular egusi recipe, a medium piece of smoked fish or stockfish goes into the pot after the egusi has cooked for about five minutes, and simmers with the meats. A Delta banga recipe adds the smoked fish at the very end, for just two to three minutes. Hard, bone-dry pieces belong at the early end of that range. Pieces that are already soft after your test-soak can go in late. Dried fish is concentrated, so as one cook puts it, a small piece has a big effect on the taste of the pot.

Salt and seasoning: taste before you add any

Dried fish varies in salt. Stockfish is dried without any, while some West African dried fish are salted, and seasoning cubes can add salt and MSG on top. With a fish whose identity you cannot confirm, taste the soaked flesh, season the soup lightly, and adjust at the end. It is much easier to add salt than to remove it.

Telling mangala from its look-alikes

• A coiled, smoky fish labeled catfish is catfish round.
• A golden, brittle, smoke-dried fish sold as hake or eja kika is panla.
• A pale, unsmoked, rock-hard fish is probably stockfish, which needs days, not minutes, of soaking.
• A fish sold as asa is described by that guide as dried the mangala way, so the two names may overlap.

Keeping it

Keep dried fish airtight, cool and dry. Fish that feel soft or flexible rather than snapping dry are likely to be less thoroughly dried, so they belong in the refrigerator or freezer. Once soaked, treat the fish as perishable.

Mangala: what to expect when it is listed

Mangala cannot be ordered yet. If it is listed later, check that the page names the fish and says whether it is whole or cut, and use the Notify me form on this page to hear about it. Abacha is not a swallow dish, but many of the soups that use dried fish are eaten with one, and our pounded yam flour is on sale now. Everything else in the family sits in the dried fish and seafood category.