Unknown Amazing Health Benefits of Eating Amala

January 29, 2023 Globalinfo247

Amala is typically made from yam flour or plantain flour and is typically eaten by the Yoruba people of Nigeria. The process which involves peeling the yam, sliced, dried and then grated or ground into a fine powder. The process is similar for plantains, although unripe plantains are used for that process.

Amala is relatively difficult to make. It is not like other morsels where you mostly just stir the powder(elubo) into the boiling water and stir and it turns out fine. Eba would be the easiest to make and you can hardly go wrong there. Amala requires practice and technique.

Meanwhile, let us look soup popular recipes for Amala and how to prepare Amala below:

Recipes For Preparing Amala

1. How to cook Amala the Yoruba way: You will need the yam flour and clean water. There are no precise amounts because everything depends on the thickness you prefer in the end.

2. Meanwhile the main difficulty many people face when cooking amala is preventing the formation of lumps. It’s necessary to stir really vigorously until the mass is smooth and then steam it carefully to the brown color without letting it burn. It can be complicated for some, so, there’s sense in trying to cook this swallow with the help of a microwave oven. Take a bowl that’s safe for microwaving.

Amazingly, the best way to prevent the formation of lumps is to Mix some yam powder and water in it and stir until the mixture is even. Again, there are no precise amounts because everything depends on the desirable softness or firmness of the ready amala.

Therefore try with a little less water because you can always add some water halfway but it will be hard to evaporate the excess if you put too much from the start. Put the bowl into the microwave oven and simply run it for 5 full minutes.

If you want, you can take the bowl out halfway through the cooking process and do some stirring, add some water or, instead, some more yam flour. However, in most cases, you will leave it run all the 5 minutes without stops If you decide to take it out halfway, you may see that the color is still too light and there are raw pieces.

When you complete the 5-minutes cooking time, you will notice the necessary color and consistency Take the swallow out of the microwave and either serve while hot or wrap to keep it fresh for later.

3. As all traditional foods, Amala is supposed to be cooked in all the traditional ways. It should be stirred manually, with a wooden spatula or a wooden stick to become smooth and even.

However, it’s already 21st century and we can all take advantage of the civilization and its inventions. Take a pot and pour some water into it. Place the pot on fire but don’t make it too big.

Wait until the water boils and in the meanwhile prepare the hand mixer with whisk rods installed When you can see the water boiling properly, DO NOT remove it from the fire but start adding the flour, stirring slightly with a wooden spoon or a spatula.

When the flour is all mixed with water, take away the spoon and start mixing with the help of the mixer without removing the pot from the fire You will see the mixture quickly becoming very smooth and light without applying any force from your arm. The mixing process will take you about 1 minute.

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4. This is a very quick recipe and it means cooking Amala in a shallow saucepan that’s not removed from heat through the entire cooking process. You need to be very concentrated to cook this swallow in five minutes and very accurate to do everything well. Pour a cup of water into a saucepan and place it on fire.

Add several cups of yam flour (one by one, stirring and watching the density you want to receive) Take a wooden stick or a wooden spatula that’s durable enough (the mixture can sometimes be very tough when stirred for the first time).

Stir the mixture very vigorously, so that it’s even and smooth. The mixture will turn grey-brown at this point. When the moisture evaporates and the mixture becomes tough and dry, add some water (it should be hot!) and when this additional water gets to boil, stir everything well Add water in small amounts in order to avoid overdoing.

With further stirring, the mass will become soft, silky, and very smooth The key here is in the constant stirring that evaporates excess water and leaves a firm and intensive mass and prevents sticking, lumping and burning of the substance. In the end, you will have a perfect example of amala food!

Now let us discuss about the unknown amazing health benefits of eating Amala below:

Health Benefits of Amala to the Human Body

Amala (Yam flour) is a common food consumed in Nigeria especially the Yoruba Clan. This food can be consumed with ewedu (jute) and stew (made from pepper, tomato, palm oil, water).

Unknown to many people, Amala is gotten from yam peels. The peels are dried and thereafter grinded to flour.

The full health benefits of this kind of meal is good for the well-being of humans. These health benefits are;

1) Amala is Good for Diabetes Management

Diabetes is a metabolic disease inflicting the society. It has led to deaths of many people and scientists are still finding lasting solution to this problem.

The meal (Amala with ewedu and stew) is a very good meal for diabetic patients because amala (Yam flour) is known for its low glycemic index i.e. it won’t cause rapid rise in blood glucose level of diabetes patients and so won’t cause aggravation of this condition.

In combination with the positive effects of antioxidants found in stew and ewedu, it makes it very good for diabetes management.

2) Amala Improves Cardiovascular Diseases

Dietary fiber in Amala (Yam flour) helps reduce low density lip proteins and pepper used in making stew impedes buildup of cholesterol in the body and finally ewedu is known to have good impact on cardiovascular diseases.

3) Amala Lowers Cancer Risk

Ewedu and stew have several antioxidants in it and these antioxidants aid in mopping up of pro-oxidants that could instigate cancer.

Beta-cryptoxanthin in red pepper has been investigated and shows it aids in preventing lung cancer that is either caused by direct smoking or second hand smoke that is injurious to health.

Several antioxidants found in ewedu also aid in lowering cancer risk. In addition, Dietary Fibre in amala even reduces risk of having colon cancer by hindering hazardous compounds in food from affecting the colon mucosa.

4) Weight Loss

Taking an healthy amount of Amala (yam flour) with ewedu and stew is good for weight loss. Pepper has a chemical compound called capsaicin that could jazz up metabolism, keep immature fat cells from developing and so promotes weight loss.

This ability coupled with ewedu that has low calorie and healthy amount of amala that has low GI supports weight loss.

5) Builds Immune System

The immune system is stronger when workload on it is reduced and also reduction in rate of oxidative stress in the body.

There are several type of vitamins found in this meal and many antioxidants that help to make possible clearing up of proxidants and simultaneously making the immune system better. The immune system is necessary for fighting infections so it is very important it is not weak.

6) Amala Improves Eye Sight

Vitamin A can be found in Ewedu and pepper coupled with Beta-carotene and these nutrient help in improving eye sight. This indicates that the meal is good for eyes health.

Other benefits that could be profited from consuming such meal are derived from other nutrients such as calcium that helps in stronger bone, zinc that helps in sperm motility, iron, copper, magnesium, potassium and several other minerals and vitamin.

In conclusion, it is preferable to incorporate this kind of meal to your normal diet. Therefore I encourage you to Eat Amala meal and Live Healthy.

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