Photos: How to Make Garri (Cassava Grits) From Scratch - Part 1

Cassava tubers soon to be peeled; see their hard skin?

In this post, I'm going to use pictures to tell you how to make garri, which is used in making eba everywhere in West Africa. This is the Nigerian version of garri making; you are welcome to share your type. I'm Ngwa by birth and association and this is what I learned in my childhood. For many people who live in the city, it's not unusual to not know that garri comes from cassava. I was amazed to learn that an adult woman hadn't seen a live chicken all her life. She was American. What say you to that? She was probably pulling my leg.  Lol!

On making cassava grits, let me say that you may want to know that cassava is a staple crop in Nigeria, especially in the South East. It's used in preparing many meals with it as the base. Such food include fufu (foofoo) and eba depending on how it's processed. This post is about processing cassava for eba. The picture above shows some cassava tubers ready for peeling. Hence, after harvesting the first step is to peel off the hard skin with a kitchen knife or any knife of your choice. Below, is the skin of peeled cassava tubers.

Cassava tuber peel

 Some people use the cassava peel to feed livestock. Care is usually taken to ensure that it's safe for livestock consumption. It's also sunned and bagged like hay to be used for livestock feed at a future date. Otherwise, many people properly dispose of the peel to ensure sanitary conditions of the environment.

This is the peeled cassava tubers after washing

 After peeling, the next step is to wash the tubers. This ensures that there's minimal contamination from peeling and eventual grating of the cassava tubers. Wash with clean water and container. See more photos of the peeled cassava tubers below.

This is the first two steps of cassava processing, that is peeling and washing the tubers. This feature will continue in subsequent posts.

N/B: These pictures are mine and should be used only with my consent.

Add caption to this tuber above...I call it Joseph Cassava, standing and being worshipped by the others