Pounded Yam Flour

What pounded yam flour is, and where it fits in Nigerian cooking

Pounded yam, called iyan in Yoruba, is one of Nigeria's best-loved swallows: a smooth, stretchy dough that you pinch off, dip in soup and eat by hand. Traditionally it is made from white Guinea yam, Dioscorea rotundata, the leading yam species across West and Central Africa, boiled and pounded in a mortar. By the figures of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Nigeria grows roughly 70 percent of the world's yam, and Benue State is one of its main yam-growing areas.

Pounded yam flour is the shortcut. The yam is peeled, sliced, parboiled, dried and milled, so hot water and a wooden spatula turn it back into dough within minutes.

How yam flour is made, and why pounded yam flour, elubo and poundo differ

The flour in this category has one ingredient, yam from Benue, with no preservatives added. It is peeled, parboiled, dried, milled fine and sifted, and the parboiling is what lets it form a pale, stretchy dough. Elubo, the Yoruba flour for amala, is made with lighter heat. Accounts differ: some describe a quick blanch, others plain drying, and the traditional method studied by Nigerian food scientists adds a day-long steep before drying and grinding. Cut yam darkens along the way, so amala is brown and a little less stretchy, and it is usually served with soups such as ewedu, gbegiri and efo riro. The two flours are not interchangeable.

Poundo is a loose term for instant swallow flours, and the products behind it differ. Some are all yam; others blend in potato, cassava or other starches. Only the ingredient list tells you which you have, and the flour here lists yam alone.

Three packs, one flour: which size to choose

All three packs hold the same flour. What changes is the amount, the bagging and how shipping works.

The 2 lb bag holds 900 g, about 7 servings. It is the pack for trying iyan, for one- and two-person households, and for anyone who cooks it now and then. One bag ships at a flat rate, because free shipping starts at five 2 lb bag equivalents.

The 5 x 2 lb bundle is five sealed bags, ten pounds and about 36 servings. You open one at a time while the rest stay sealed, which suits steady cooks and anyone splitting an order with family. It ships free.

The 10 lb bag is a single 4.5 kg bag, also about 36 servings with free shipping. It suits big households, weekly cooks and hosts, since one bag makes about 36 servings.

Cooking it: water ratios from several kitchens, reconciled

Start with the directions on the pack, because brands differ. Recipe sources range from about equal volumes of flour and water to two parts water for one part flour. A sensible starting point is 1.25 to 1.5 cups of boiling water per cup of flour, which sits inside that range, then adjusting with splashes of hot water.

The method is more consistent than the numbers. Bring the water to a boil, lower the heat and add the flour gradually while stirring so it wets evenly. Then fold the dough against the side of the pot for roughly 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the quantity. Some cooks whisk a little flour into cold water first, and others cover the pot on the lowest heat for a couple of minutes at the end. The dough is ready when it is smooth, stretchy and lifts away from the sides of the pot. If it stiffens, loosen it with a little hot water. If it turns soft, fold in a spoonful of flour. For lumps, dab on a little boiling water and squash them against the pot wall.

Soups and dishes that go with pounded yam

Pounded yam tastes mild, so the soup does the talking. Egusi, made from ground melon seeds, is a common companion, as are efo riro (the Yoruba soup that stirs leafy greens into a pepper and palm oil base), okra soup and ogbono. Ogbono is a draw soup made from ground bush mango seed, and it thickens further as it stands, so thin it with stock when you reheat it. In southern Nigeria, edikang ikong (fluted pumpkin leaves with waterleaf) and afang (okazi leaves with waterleaf) are classic partners. Oha soup and bitterleaf soup are often named too.

Several of these soup ingredients are on our list and not for sale yet: ogbono, ugu leaf, ukazi leaf and oha leaf. Each page has a Notify me form where you can leave your email to hear when it arrives.

How much to buy, how to store the flour, and what to do with leftovers

Plan on about 1 cup (roughly 125 g) of flour per person. A 2 lb bag is about 7 servings and the bundle or 10 lb bag about 36, which is around seven dinners for a family of five or eighteen for a couple.

Keep the flour cool and dry in its resealed bag or an airtight container, away from stove steam and sun, scoop with a dry cup and follow the best-before date printed on the pack. Throw out flour that is damp, musty or shows any sign of insects. Cooked pounded yam is a moist cooked starch, so handle it as you would cooked rice: into the refrigerator within 2 hours (1 hour if the room is hotter than 90 degrees F), eaten within 3 to 4 days, and reheated until steaming hot.

Delivery, and what is still coming soon

Everything in this category is in stock. Orders ship within 24 to 48 hours and usually arrive in 2 to 5 business days, to the lower 48 states and DC. Shipping is a flat rate under the equivalent of five 2 lb bags and free from five, so the bundle and the 10 lb bag qualify on their own. No sales tax is charged.

Elsewhere on the site, pages marked coming soon are for products we do not stock yet. The Notify me form on those pages, with your email, is how you hear when one lands, and the sign-ups help us decide what to stock first. For questions, write to hello@afrifoodsbasket.com or message us on WhatsApp at (734) 219-0258.