Egusi Pudding
Egusi Pudding – highly addictive savory bites made with African egusi seeds and chunks of protein and spices. Makes a wonderful snack bites or as side dish.
Egusi pudding is a highly addictive, exotic savory dish that is widely enjoyed in Cameroon. I am pretty sure there are other West African countries that have a fondness of this pudding but don’t know which ones.
So what is egusi ? It is a wild member of the gourd family, with very dry skin and bitter flesh. It looks the same as watermelon seeds but taste quite differently. They are extremely nutritious- high in protein and oil. According to nourishing planet, they are Composed of nearly 50 percent edible oil and contain another 30 percent pure protein and pack a lot of nutrition into a very small package- who knew they are so nutritious. Now am going to make them more often.
These nutritious seeds are widely consumed in West African Countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone as a thickening agent in soups, and to add depth to most soups.
Unfortunately, they can only be purchased in an African store or online, but if you are in West Africa, they are available in most markets. Store it in the refrigerator and it will stay fresh for more than a year.
In this recipe, I used fresh beef, smoked fish and crayfish. You may use any one protein, or any combination. I love the smoky taste of the fish; it adds depth of flavor to this savory pudding.
This is an easy way of making egusi pudding instead of using foil paper or plantain leaves. I use muffin cups to make the egusi. Then steam it in the oven-it cuts my labor in half.
You may serve this with Miondo, bobolo (sour cassava), yams, and plantains.
Watch How To Make It
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Egusi Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried fish
- ½ pound beef boiled (cut in bite size) , reserve about 1 ½ cup broth
- 2 cups ground egusi
- 1/3 ground Cray fish
- 1 small scotch bonnet pepper minced or 1 teaspoon dried pepper
- 1-2 bouillon cube or Maggie
- Salt as needed
Instructions
- Boil beef with salt, pepper and some chopped onions in a medium pot until tender. You can add the smoked fish depending on its texture. . Reserve the stock for later use.
- Add the stock and meat, fish, crayfish, pepper to the egusi. Mix well, until fully combine. Adjust for salt add more if needed.
- Place egusi mixture into prepared baking cups. Cover with mixture until about three quarters full. Gently place ramekins pans to the large baking pan.
- Bring the water (to place in the large baking dish) to a light simmer on top of the stove; carefully pour hot water into the baking pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins cups.
- Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. Let it rest for about 10 minutes or more before removing aluminum foil.
- Carefully remove aluminum foil with an oven mitten.
- Let egusi pudding rest for about 10 minutes or more before serving.
Nutrition Information:
Hi Imma, as a fellow Cameroonian I can’t stop raving about this site (and on FB and Insta ) to my Cameroon and non-Cameroon peeps alike.
Question: I have pots/pans that can go from stovetop to the oven. Being concerned about pouring hot water on myself, What happens if I have the ceramic bowls (w/ the egusi mixture) and water in the pot on the stove top together first? Get the water to simmer on the stovetop before moving everything into the oven already at 350F…?
Will starting the cooking of the pudding on the stovetop before I put it in the oven messed things up? Will I need to reduce the time in the oven from an hour to say 45 minutes or so?
Hi Aye! Thanks so much for your support . Am so humbled and grateful.
In regards to your question, the method you suggested would work just fine. Yes shorten the cooking time to about 45 minutes . After 45 minutes, if possible test taste one and adjust cooking times .
Much Love
Imma
Hi, can I add nutmeg on my Egusi pudding?
Thank you
I have not tried it with nutmeg, so can’t say for sure . If you do let me know how it works out. Thanks
Hello dear I wanna cook this today someone told me I could add a little bit of white and black pepper. Will it still be like yours?
Thanks
Yes, black and white pepper would do just fine.
Wanted to prepare egusi pudding upon googling for the recipes, i got here thanks so much will keep to updates
Can’t wait.
thanks for making my day..am so happys
Glad to be of help.
Wow this is amazing. I’m so interested in the baking part. Can I bake in a really large baking pan?
You sure can.
Hello Ima, I love your recipes! Can I use pumpkin seeds instead of egusi seeds?
You sure can. It’s going to be slightly different though. Thanks and Happy Cooking
Great recipe!
Hi Imam, you are doing great job with the recipes.Thank you.I am wondering why it was so difficult to remove the pudding from the ramekin cups.I let it stand for more than 10mins (because I wanted it to cool). could that be the reason?Thanks
Try heavily oiling the egusi pudding before cooking.
OK Miss Imma? I will be anxiously waiting. I tried the egusi pudding recipe and it turned out really great!! So u have one faithful follower now.lol
Now down to my question about this recipe: do you think it would turn ok if use a round 10inch fluted/bundt cake pan? I don’t own ramekins and I really don’t want to buy any.
Ellen, I have never tried baking using a fluted pan. Do you have any other baking dish that is not fluted? If not go for it and increase the bake time. Make sure it is tightly covered . Hope this helps. Please let me know how it works for you.
Hi there, Immaculate, I must say good job on this website. I found it a few months ago when I could not seem to get my Koki corn recipe down, and yours helped me figure what I was doing wrong. I am proud to see an African sister pull out her creative skills to help others navigate African cooking (as we all know most of us learned by watching & learning as our Mamas/Aunties/Grandmothers cook without measurements). I have been meaning to give you a 5 thumbs up… Anyway you should totally come up with a cookbook, if you aren’t working on one already; I would buy it and I am quite sure many others would too! I have many of my non-Cameroonian friends ask me for recipes all the time after I cook something for them and I have to take the time to write it down…
Hey… or recipes are awesome and I can’t wait to try this one. I’ve been searching for the recipe on mpuh a d plantain but have not been able to find one, even here. Plssss can u upload that too? As soon as u possible can? I’ll be most grateful. Am dying to eat mpuh fish. Thanks..
I will work on it. Make sure to subscribe so you get it when I post it.
Wow… this looks great! I stumbled on Oct while searching for a recipe for mpuh fish. I have not been able to find any recipe on that since I started searching. The most I’ve seen are pictures of the meal. I’m dying to make that. Can u help?
Wow! who knew Egusi could be made into a pudding. Amazing. Is it eaten with any sauces?
Ms Imma, your recipe was fabulous! I made egusi pudding for the first time in my life & I nailed it like a pro thanks to you! Hubby was impressed! Thank you so much for this wonderfully easy method : no wrapping required. Pls keep the recipes coming. They are much appreciated. God Bless You
Like a pro? Wow! Barbara, you go girl. Thanks for the feedback.
Bake at what temp ?
Bake at 350 degrees
May God bless you! God bless your hands. Kia I need to break this down in pidgin.
Any time I di langa some thing. You just upload the recipe. God bless you abundantly in all areas of your life. Eh next weekend my miondo and this delicious receipe go hear.
Besides your presentation and creativity is good.
Wow neva tot egusi cd be prepared dis way, tot it belonged 2 d soups only lol. Anyway I want to know can it be prepared like d Nigerian moi moi? i.e after pouring d mixture in2 d cups can u steam in a pot?
Yes, you can steam it in the pots just like you would cook Nigerian moi moi.
My Cameroonian friend is delighted that I am able to learn some of his favorite dishes courtesy of your instruction. Thank you for making us both content.
Niki, thanks for stopping by. Let me know how you like this!