Soaked garri is best taken in the busy hour of the day like in the afternoon to replenish lost energy and to allow burning more energy.

In West Africa, most especially Nigeria, one very indispensable food is garri.

The food which is derived from cassava tubers is locally called “Garri” by many Nigerian tribes and is pronounced as ‘garry’.

Other names that it is called are ‘African or cassava flakes, gari, garry, or gali’.

What Is Soaked Garri?

Garri is a grain-like (cereal) food substance that is derived from fermented cassava.

Cassava is used to produce two popular local food types called Garri and Akpu (or Fufu).

In processing garri, cassava tubers are harvested from farms, peeled, washed, milled and tied in bags to ferment for one to three days before further dry frying.

Once the cassava is completely pan-fried, it’s taken out, cooled, aired and packed in sacks for sale or consumption.

Garri can be taken on its own by soaking in water and drinking, but it could also be mixed with hot water (Eba/utara), and be eaten with any Nigerian soup like Egusi soup to give a balanced diet.

The best Garri to use to make this soaked Garri ‘cereal’ is the

Ijebu garri version.

It’s sour so the sugar or sugar and milk as the case may give it a sweet and sour taste which is to die for.

Despite that, some people still prefer the yellow or white garri to the ijebu garri.

How do you Soak Garri?

Garri can be eaten without further cooking, as a snack, by placing it in a bowl adding cold water, sugar, groundnut and milk usually called garri soakings

Benefits of Soaked Garri

As a snack, Cereal, or light meal, garri can be soaked in cold water (in which case it settles to the bottom), mixed with sugar or honey, and sometimes roasted.

Peanuts, kulikuli or groundnut with/or evaporated milk are sometimes added. The amount of water needed for soaked garri is 3:1.

Soaked garri is considered a lifesaving meal eaten by an average Nigerian man. Secondary School or High school students are not left out.

The major nutritional content of garri is carbohydrates. It is a cheap and indigenous source of energy.

If you have never soaked garri, it means you never went to boarding school in Nigeria.

During our high school days, we called it GSM meaning Garri, sugar, and milk. Some call it soakis, asoaks, while the ajebutters gave it the English name of cassava flakes.

Garri Is Everything

Consumption of garri is as important as anything among the populace of West Africa like Togo, Nigeria, Benin Republic, and others.

It gains this importance not only because of its cheap and readily available source of food but also fast food. The rich and the poor all consume garri.

It requires sugar, coconut, groundnut, meat, fish, or processed preferred foods like Kulikuli (Yoruba) and water for the readiness of its consumption.

Its transformation into other foods like Eba also increases its consumption among the African populace.

This pan-fried cassava flakes sales on its own and calls for no public advertisement.

Different Ways We Love Drinking Garri in Nigeria

Soaked Garri compliments a number of Nigerian dishes like the ones listed below:

Gari served with fish

Soaked garri with fish, coconuts, and groundnuts

Going down with cashew nuts, milk, and sugar served with a side of corned beef moi moi.

Moi moi served with cold garri.

Garri served with cashew nuts, milk and sugar. It’s delicious and filling. Adding moi moi as seen above makes it a complete Nigerian meal.

Soaked garri with bananas, coconuts, groundnuts, milk, and sugar.

Garri served with milk, coconuts and sweetener of choice.

Gari with milk and crunchy chin chin.

Cassava flakes served with groundnuts milk and bananas.

Gari with avocado pear, milk, and sugar.

Garri served with avocado pear, milk sugar, and groundnut

Cassava flakes with tiger nuts, coconuts, and groundnuts.

Garri with akara balls.

Add milk, sugar, and almonds to your garri. Very delicious.

Gari with Roasted Nigerian pear.

Garri served with Beans porridge

Side Effects

Even though it is a staple food for many people in Africa, consuming too much garri is not a very good thing.

As cassava used for making garri contains hydrocyanic acid (in other words, cyanide), one should not consume it if it is not properly processed.

In such cases, the effect of drinking garri will be mostly negative, as it might cause intestinal issues, worsening of ulcers and serious eye defects.

Is Drinking Garri Good For A Pregnant Woman?

Many expectant mothers enjoy drinking garri first thing in the morning or in the evenings, as its sour taste prevents them from vomiting. But should they actually be drinking it

The Lassa fever was transmitted by rats that came into contact with cassava.

However, back in 2016, many Nigerians, including several pregnant women, suffered severely from the outbreak of this fever, and some even died from it.

Thus, drinking raw soaked garri led to contracting the fever and several fatalities. If you want to avoid such fate, it is best to stay away from drinking garri during pregnancy.

If you still want to have garri in your diet, make sure it is thoroughly processed.

You can still eat it in the form of utara/eba, as long as you cook it properly.

How Many Calories Are In a Cup of Garri?

Cassava which is the crop from which garri is derived from is rich in carbohydrate.

A cup of garri contains about 360 calories, out of which 99 percent is carbohydrate.

Hence, consuming too much of garri can lead to excess storage of carbs in the body and this can lead to unnecessary weight gain.

So, now you know, garri is not good for weight loss.

Above all, it is advisable that you purchase your garri from a trusted source and moderate your overall consumption of garri.