Pounded, stretchy cassava and plantain dough served alongside a light, peppery tomato-based soup with goat meat.
Ghanaian Fufu with Light Soup is a real, traditional Ghanaian dish. Pounded, stretchy cassava and plantain dough served alongside a light, peppery tomato-based soup with goat meat.\n\nFufu is a foundational staple across West Africa, traditionally made by pounding boiled cassava, yam or plantain in a large wooden mortar until smooth and elastic, historically a communal, labor-intensive process central to many Ghanaian family meals.\n\nThe result is a dish worth making on its own merits: it rewards patience with the technique and delivers real, specific flavor rooted in Ghanaian home cooking, not a generic stand-in for a search term.
Serves 6
Boil the cassava and plantain chunks together in water until very soft, about 30 minutes.
Drain and pound the cassava and plantain together, traditionally in a large mortar with a pestle, until it forms a smooth, stretchy, elastic dough, adding a splash of water as needed. Shape into rounds.
In a separate pot, combine goat meat, onion, blended tomatoes, whole scotch bonnets, ginger, stock cubes and water. Bring to a simmer.
Cover and simmer for 1 hour until the goat meat is tender and the soup has developed a light, brothy consistency, unlike thicker peanut-based soups.
Season with salt to taste and stir in fresh basil or scent leaves at the end.
Serve the fufu rounds alongside the light soup in a bowl, to be torn off by hand and dipped into the broth.
Pounding fufu by hand takes real effort and time; a food processor can approximate the texture in a pinch by pulsing the boiled cassava and plantain with a little water until smooth and elastic, though it won't be quite as stretchy.
Keep the soup relatively thin and brothy — 'light soup' is deliberately less thick than groundnut or palm nut soup.
Traditionally eaten by hand, pinching off small pieces of fufu to dip into the soup.
Use yam instead of cassava and plantain for a different traditional fufu base.
Add smoked fish alongside or instead of goat meat.
Some households add okra to the soup for extra body.
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop or in the microwave with a splash of water or stock to loosen the texture.
Fufu is a foundational staple across West Africa, traditionally made by pounding boiled cassava, yam or plantain in a large wooden mortar until smooth and elastic, historically a communal, labor-intensive process central to many Ghanaian family meals.
Yes, a food processor or high-powered blender can pulse boiled cassava and plantain with a little water into a smooth, elastic dough as a modern shortcut, though the texture won't be identical to traditionally pounded fufu.
Light soup is a thinner, more broth-like tomato and pepper soup, distinct from thicker peanut-based groundnut soup or palm nut soup, and is traditionally paired with fufu.
Yes, many West African grocery stores sell frozen, pre-made fufu or instant fufu flour mixes as convenient shortcuts.
Per serving (480g / 16.9 oz) · 6 servings total
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