How to make gbegiri (bean soup) with bean flour

Gbegiri is a traditional Yoruba bean soup, usually made by cooking down peeled beans until soft, then blending or sieving them into a thick puree before seasoning. That process can take an hour or more of picking, peeling and boiling before the soup even starts to come together. Flozy bean flour is already peeled and milled, so you skip straight to whisking a paste and simmering — smooth gbegiri in about 20 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Flozy peeled bean flour
• 3–4 cups water, or light meat/chicken stock
• 3–4 tbsp red palm oil
• 1 tbsp ground crayfish
• 1 tsp iru (fermented locust beans)
• 1–2 tsp ground dried pepper, or blended ata rodo, to taste
• 1 stock/seasoning cube
• Salt, to taste
• Optional: assorted meat or shaki, cooked, for extra flavour and stock

Method

1. In a bowl, whisk the bean flour into about a cup of cool water until you have a smooth, lump-free paste — this stops lumps from forming once it hits the hot water.
2. In a pot, bring the remaining water (or meat stock) to a boil.
3. Pour the bean flour paste into the boiling water gradually, whisking constantly to keep it smooth as it thickens.
4. Stir in the red palm oil, crayfish, iru, ground pepper, seasoning cube and salt.
5. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the soup is smooth and thickened to a soft, easy-drop consistency.
6. Taste and adjust the seasoning, pepper or salt as needed before serving.

Tips for smooth gbegiri

• Always mix the bean flour into cool water first before adding it to the pot. Sprinkling dry flour straight into hot liquid is what causes lumps.
• Whisk as you pour the paste in, and keep stirring while it simmers, so the soup thickens evenly.
• Adjust the water or stock to taste — less for a thicker soup, more if you prefer it looser and easier to swallow with amala.
• For the full classic combination, serve gbegiri alongside amala and ewedu — together known as abula.

Want to use the rest of the bag? Try our akara recipe or moin moin recipe, or read the bean flour guide to see why peeled bean flour is worth keeping in the pantry.