Gbegiri Soup (Abula)

Last Updated on March 1, 2020

Gbegiri soup is a type of Nigerian soup popularly eaten by the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria. It is made from peeled cooked bean. This beans soup is commonly served at restaurants also known as Buka. It is delicious, velvety and mildly flavoured. Gbegiri or abula as often called is served with ewedu and buka stew.

Gbegiri Soup

I’m starting this month’s post with my gran’s (Iya Dele) staple, Gbegiri soup popularly called abula in some other part of Yoruba land in Nigeria. My grandma used to sell gbegiri (abula) and I remember people queuing up every evening to buy from her, she usually serves her gbegiri with Tuwo (corn flour). She prided herself in using fresh ingredients; my best part of the soup is the bone marrow and biscuit-bone that she uses.

Those things are out of this world. I can actually taste the soup in my mouth as I’m typing this… longer throat me, I know. Gbegiri is made from beans, delicious, and easy to make but since I moved to the UK, I have found another easiest way of making it.

Gbegiri involves using peeled beans, cooking it for some minutes and then using a hand broom to smoothen it, well, I am happy to tell that the world has evolved since yesterday. You can now make this delicious soup with unpeeled beans and thanks to the blender or food processor, your hands can rest.

I would have to apologise to grandma, as I cheated a lot in making this soup but hey, this is 2015 (recipe update in 2020)! We have to learn to embrace change. This method did not change the taste at all.

My cheats and tips…

• I pressure cooked my peeled beans using a pressure cooker
• Substituted fresh pepper with cayenne pepper
• I blended my beans with a blender instead of sieving…shhh! my grandma and mama use ijabe (cooking chopping broom. lol) Not sure of the English word for it. You can still cook gbegiri without a blender.

Ingredients

black-eyed peas or brown beans, peeled

Cayenne pepper, this is where I cheated, my grandma uses fresh pepper for hers.

palm oil

Ground crayfish

Seasoning (stock cubes)

Salt

Assorted beef (I used turkey neck, shaki and smoked snort) boiled with seasoning and salt. No curry and thyme, please. This is optional as this soup is mostly cooked plain.

How to cook gbegiri

soak beans in water for 3-5 minutes and peel to remove the skin. leave the skin on if you choose. Alternatively use the blender to peel the beans. it is faster and less stressful

Boil peeled beans with enough water until soft alternatively, use a pressure cooker for this bit as it is quicker

How to Cook Gbegiri With Blender

Boil assorted meat till tender with seasoning and salt. Separate stock from meat and set aside

Blend cooked beans in a blender for a smooth puree and set aside (I love this bit as you can see the silkiness of the beans)

Place a cooking pan on medium heat, add palm oil and heat for about 3 minutes (don’t bleach oil)

Stir puréed beans in palm oil (beans purée should not be loose but somewhere in the middle of loose and thick) Add water if needed to achieve the desired thickness

Add assorted beef and cayenne pepper, stir till well combined. Reduce the heat and leave to cook for about 10 minutes. Check-in between to avoid soup from burning

Add crayfish, seasoning and salt. At this point don’t want the soup to be thick, add water if need be but don’t overdo it.

Continue to cook until all ingredients are well combined. Check for seasoning and salt. Serve with ewedu soup, swallow of choice like amala dudu (black yam flour), garri or Tuwo and buka stew 

Other Nigerian beans recipes on the blog you might like

Moi Moi Elewe

Akara

Ekuru

Deluxe bean porridge

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5 from 4 votes

Gbegiri Soup (Abula)

Gbegiri soup is a type of Nigerian soup popularly eaten by the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria. It is made from peeled cooked bean. This soup is commonly served at restaurants also known as Buka. It is delicious, velvety and mildly flavoured. Gbegiri is served with ewedu and buka stew. Let me show you how to make it the easy way.

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time35 mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: African, Nigerian

Keyword: abula, gbegiri, gbegiri soup, how to make gbegiri

Servings: 6

Author: Ajoke

Equipment

• Blender or pressure cooker

Ingredients

• 1 cups of brown beans peeled
• Cayenne pepper
• ¼ cup of palm oil
• 2 tablespoons ground crayfish
• 2 Beef stock cubes
• Salt to taste
• 800 g Assorted beef (about 3 cups) I used turkey neck, shaki and smoked snort. the addition of assorted beef is highly optional

Instructions

• Boil peeled beans with enough water over medium heat until soft or use a pressure cooker both stove top or electric pressure cooker works.
• Boil assorted meat till tender with beef stock cubes, onions and salt. Separate stock from meat and set aside
• Blend cooked beans in a blender for a smooth puree and set aside, pass the blended through a tiny hole sieve and discard the chaff.
• Place a pan on medium heat, add palm oil and heat for about 3 minutes (don’t bleach oil)
• Stir puréed beans in palm oil (beans purée should not be loose but somewhere in the middle of loose and thick) Add water if needed to achieve the desired thickness
• Add assorted beef (if using) and cayenne pepper, stir till well combined. Reduce the heat and leave to cook for about 10 minutes. Check-in between to avoid soup from burning and add more water if need be
• Add ground crayfish, beef stock cube and salt. At this point don’t want the soup to be thick, add water if need be but don’t overdo it. Continue to cook for another 3 minutes then take it off the heat. Serve with ewedu soup, swallow of choice like amala dudu (yam flour), garri or Tuwo and buka stew

Notes

Tips

If you don’t have a blender, use ijabe (the small broom used for cooking) or cook the beans until mushy and pass through the sieve as you would with a blender method.

Gbegiri is mostly cooked with meat or other protein, so feel free to cook it plain with crayfish alone and pair with buka stew.

Recipe originally published in 2015 and had picture facelift in March 2020, the recipe is perfect and still remained as originally published. I have kept the picture below for reference.

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