“Gari soakings” popularly known as “Agyenkwa” is one of the “life-saving” foods in Ghana.
Like the name suggests, it is made by soaking gari, sugar, groundnuts, milk, and a pinch of salt to taste mixed with water (cold /room temperature) as preferred.
The main component of this food, which is Gari, is made from cassava that has been crushed, fermented, and sieved into small pieces. These small pieces are then roasted or fried.
With all the ingredients that come with preparing Gari Soakings, it has a lot of nutritional values such as carbohydrates, protein, calcium, potassium, dietary fiber, and more. This makes it a complete meal but some take it as a starter or dessert.
The swelling nature of the gari allows one to drink lots of water after consumption hence keeping one full and body hydrated for a long time.
Although it can be eaten at any time of the day, it’s quite refreshing having the cold taste of “soakings,” touch your tongue on a warm sunny day.
The ingredients for making Gari Soakings have become an essential need for every Senior High School Student going to boarding school.
This is because the items are quite affordable and it comes in handy for students when they run out of cash or miss school dining.
In times of financial crisis, it costs nothing to have your tummy filled with this meal sustaining, a person the entire day as they go about their duties without worrying much about food.
And that is how it literary earned the name “Agyenkwa,” meaning lifesaver.
The joy it brings to the faces of a bunch of students sharing a big bowl of the mixture is unexplainable.
It’s easy to prepare.
- Take a clean bowl/mug, and add 2/3 handful of gari to the bowl depending on the individual.
-Add your sugar to taste and mix with powdered milk or chocolate (even both, if you want to enjoy the rich taste).
-Mix the dry ingredients, (caution: at this point, you may be tempted to start chewing the mixture before adding water).
-Add water, cold or at room temperature and stir gently to have that uniformity.
-The next thing you add is the groundnut (peeled or unpeeled).
-Add a pinch of salt to enhance the taste. (Preferably)
-Grab a chair and enjoy.
Gari-soakings historically remains one of Ghana’s essential foods that has sustained a lot of households or families in difficult times. They are ingredients you can easily find in a home because it is one of the very easy ways out of hunger.
Eating this easy-to-make, “starter” together in some families has become more of a tradition that will never die and so the next time you put a bowl of “Agyenkwa,” in front of you, be grateful to the “innovators” who made this combination possible.