Local Dishes in Ghana - Top 10
Many Ghanaian local dishes have lately become popular in many countries around the world due to their simplicity and healthy ingredients. For example, Jollof rice, which is one of the most popular local Ghanaian dishes, has become a famous and an international dish that can be found in many restaurants in Europe and North America. Most of the Ghanaian dishes are composed of starchy staple foods such as boiled yams or rice accompanied with seasoned stews that usually have a source of protein. Read down below to check the most popular local dishes in Ghana - top 10.
Ginger, garlic, cayenne, allspice, onions, and chili peppers are among the most common spices that are used to prepare stews like okra, bean leaf, Plava sauce (a stew made from spinach with either chicken or fish), and forowe (a tomato stew made of fish). In addition, each region in Ghana usually has its main popular and local dish. For example, in the north of Ghana, yams, corn, and millet are more popular than in other regions, while cassava (a vegetable made of roots), cocoyams, and plantains are more popular in the West and the South. People in the dry southeastern region of Ghana usually eat cassava and corn. Check below some of the pictures of local dishes in Ghana. When it comes to drinks, people of the north usually drink Pito, which is a fermented drink made of grains called sorghum, while people from the south prefer to drink palm wine. Ghanaian food is easy to cook, and you can also prepare Jollof rice anywhere you want, which is one of the most popular Ghanaian dishes that is eaten across the whole country. You may also find other types of local dishes in Ghana below.
The Most Popular Local Dishes in Ghana
There are many kinds of local dishes in Ghana, but you may find the most popular among them in the list below. Street food in Ghana is also very popular, as statistics have proven that many Ghanaian families eat food from street food vendors about 2 to 3 times a week. It is not only popular in rural areas, but in rural areas as well. Staple foods like kenkey, waakye, jollof rice, kebab, and ballfloat, and boiled corncob can be provided by many street food vendors. There also many Ghanaian sweet foods that can be barbequed, fried, boiled, roasted, or steamed. Among the most common sweet foods is kelewele, which is usually served with peanuts. Below is the list of the top 10 local dishes in Ghana.
Jollof Rice
Jollof rice, which is also known as Benachin, is one of the most common dishes in many countries in West Africa. It is a one-pot dish that can include many useful ingredients all together, and it is served in weddings and gatherings due to its national popularity among the Ghanaian people. It can be served with different ingredients according to everyone’s popular taste. Jollof rice was mainly prepared with lamb or beef, but many people now prefer to serve it with chicken, fish, turkey or mixed vegetables. The main ingredients of the dish are rice and tomatoes, as it is usually served with fish in coastal cities in Ghana. Vegetarians, of course, prefer to eat the dish with mixed vegetables instead of meat.
Waakye
The meal originally comes from the northern region of Ghana, but it can be found now in almost every street corner in Accra due to its popularity among many Ghanaian people. Its main ingredients are rice and beans, but it can also be served with many other ingredients including avocado, pasta, cassava, and fried plantain. In Ghana, a typical meal of Waakye can consist of beans, rice, spaghetti, boiled eggs, stewed meat or stewed fish. Waakye is also eaten for breakfast,
Red Red
It is known to be one of the Ghanaian dishes that demonstrate the true and traditional Ghanaian cuisine. It is mainly made of beans and palm oil, from which it gets its red color, but it is also prepared with tomato paste in some places and served with fried bananas. Red Red is cooked with black-eyed beans, but any kind of beans will do. The dish is very popular by vegetarians due to its high protein content, but it could also be served with fish, especially in the southern regions of Ghana.
Banku
It is a local dish that is made from fermented corn and cassava, and it can be served with many other different ingredients, especially with fish. It is mostly prepared by locals from the southern regions of Ghana, but it is also one of the stable foods that is enjoyed by all tribes of the country.
Chichinga
It is one of the most popular street foods among Ghanaian people, and it can be found in many in many local restaurants and street vendors across the country. It can be made from either chicken or beef, and it can be considered as a kind of Kebab that is seasoned with garlic, ginger, suya spice, chili powder, onion powder, and olive oil.
Kelewele
They are mainly spicy fried Plantains, which are a kind of bananas. It can be served with rice, bean stew or just alone as a vegetarian desert or snack. It is also considered as one of the most popular street foods in, and almost all tourists in Ghana try it whenever they get a chance. Fried plantains can also be found in many other countries around the world, especially in Asia and in the Caribbean. The seasoning is mainly salt, ginger, and peppers, but many people, of course, prefer to add their own favorite spices. The meal is also very popular by vegetarians due to its high protein and potassium content.
Tuo Zaafi
It is one of the most popular dishes in the northern regions of Ghana, and its main ingredient is maize. It is basically a cooked maize dough added with some dried cassava dough and water, and it is eaten with green vegetable soup that is made from leaves, but as many other Ghanaian dishes, it can be accompanied with a variety of soups including okra and groundnut soup. It has become a popular meal nationwide due to its rare and nutritious herbs that are used to prepare the soups accompanying it. Some of those herbs are dawadawa and ayoyo leaves.
Omo tuo:
Its name may sound a bit Chinese, but it is an authentic Ghanaian fish that is prepared from rice. The rice has to be cooked first with an extra amount of water to make it softer, and then it is beaten to make it smoother so that it can be shaped into rice balls later on. Omo tuo is usually served with soups made of palm nuts and ground nuts. For every one cup of rice, four cups of water are required to cook omo tuo. As almost all Ghanaian staple foods, it can be served as well with a big variety of ingredients.
Kontomire stew
It is a highly nutritious stew that is prepared from boiled tender, salted fish, cocoyam leaves, and boiled eggs. It also goes perfectly with boiled yams, avocado, and plantains. The dish is mainly famous by its numerous health benefits, which include the prevention of cancer, as it fights against free radicals. It also helps in weight loss due to its low fat and high protein content. It is one of the most popular dishes among tourists who visit Ghana, and you may see its picture below.
Akotonshi
Crabs have a well-known popularity among many people in many countries around the world, especially in coastal cities, but this Ghanaian dish has taken the usual crab meal into a whole new level. People usually have a hard time getting the meat out of the crab through its shell, but this dish has made things much easier, as the shell is totally removed during the cooking process. Akotonshi is usually cooked with pepper and tomatoes.
Source: YEN.com.gh
