Fridays are meant for peppered kpomo consumption with toothpicks at least that is my opinion and i’m sticking to it.

There was a time or maybe it still stands true that kpomo was going to be banned but I think the forces that love Kpomo made sure that this idea was quickly dusted under the carpet. Before I continue my rambling, do you spell it as kpomo or pomo? I feel adding the “k” puts special emphasis that it is Nigerian.

If you are not Nigerian and are wondering what in the world Kpomo is, well let me help guide you a bit. So basically, instead of making bags and shoes with it, we eat it. Got it? No? Ok Kpomo is known as cow skin.

The skin of the cow is burnt to remove all the hair and Nigerians use it to cook stews, soups and appetizers like this one I have made. I wanted this dish to have a bit of local flavoring to it. Instead of vegetable oil, I opted for palm oil. I also used scent leaves which if you have no access to you can substitute with basil.

All that was missing was edible potash for it to be a spicy version of kpomo nkwobi but I decided to skip that creaminess and keep things spicy and light. Hope you enjoy your friday evening with this Peppered Kpomo.

Recipe for Peppered Kpomo

Ingredients

7 medium pieces of Kpomo (cow skin)

5 pieces of Scotch bonnet peppers (Ata rodo)

1 bulb of onion

2 tablespoons of chopped scent leaves

Seasoning cubes

2 Cooking spoons of Palm Oil

1 teaspoon dry pepper (chili powder)

Salt

Method

Season with seasoning cubes, onion, dry pepper and salt and boil your kpomo till very soft. You may choose to use a pressure cooker to make this process faster.

Blend your pepper and onion without water till you obtain a rough texture as seen in the image below.

Chop your scent leaves and onions and set aside.

Heat up your palm oil and fry the onions and blended pepper and onion mix for about 2 minutes.

Add in your soft kpomo and stir fry. Check for seasoning and correct as necessary.

Sprinkle your scent leaves and stir in and serve hot.