Healthy Nigerian Goat Pepper Soup Recipe

 Pepper soup is a light spicy soup eaten in Nigeria that can be made with any type of meat though typically cooked with either fish, chicken, or goat meat. When using goat meat, no part of the goat goes wasted. Starches like boiled plantain or yams are sometimes added to the soup to make it more hearty.

Nigerian pepper soup in general can be used to help with weight loss due to its low carbohydrate content when no starchy vegetables are added. It can also help fight infections, coughs, colds, and cattarh due to the infection fighting properties of the traditional Nigerian spices used to cook it. And is used to help cleanse to uterus of a newly birthed mother due to uterine contraction properties that the traditional Uda spice has. Keep reading below, to find out how to cook this nutritious and flavourful dish!

When I cook this dish I use several different kinds of peppers to achieve  rich, earthy, spicy undertones. Peppers I use include scotch bonnet, ground native african black peppers uziza, and uda, and ground dried Nigerian and Ghanian pepper to bring extra heat! If you live in the US you can typically find these spices at an African grocery store, however if there is not one near you, you can purchase most of these spices on Amazon.

What you will need

Ingredients

• 5-6 lbs chopped goat meat
• 1 red onion
• 2 scotch bonnet peppers
• 1-2 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1-2 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1-3 teaspoon dried ground Nigerian red pepper*  
• Salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons ground uziza seeds*
• 1 tablespoon ground (African calabash nutmeg) *
• 1 teaspoon ground uda *
• Hand full of dried nchanwu leaves*
• Pinch of utazi leaves* optional

*Substitutions (these ingredients may be hard to come by if you live in the diaspora) I always buy them in Nigeria and bring them back to the US for personal us. However, some things can be bought in African grocery stores or even on amazon. If you can't find any of the African spices some things can be substituted for more common spices in America or Europe. However these African ingredients are key to achieving real pepper soup flavor. I personally have not tried these substitutions 

• you can buy pepper soup spice on amazon that includes ground uziza seeds, uda, and African nutmeg. Use 2-3 tablespoons
• nchanwu is know as "African basil" so you can substitute regular basil
• utazi is optional but you can substitute parsley
• cayenne or habanero pepper can be substituted for Nigerian red pepper

Steps:

1. Dice the onion and scotch bonnet peppers 
2. Add goat meat to pot and cook on medium heat. with minimal water just enough to cover bottom of meat, this allows the spices to really penetrate the meat.
3. Add diced onions, salt, pepper, garlic powder, ginger powder, and "pepper soup spices."
4. Stir frequently to prevent from burning, and cover and cook meat all the way through
5. Once meat is done cooking, add nchanwu. Add utazi now as well but it is optional. Add diced scotch bonnet peppers too.
6. Fill pot with water just above meat
7. Let boil for 10-15 to allow spices and leaves to infuse into water, stirring occasionally, taste, and add more seasoning to your liking
8. Enjoy alone, with boiled plantain, boiled yam or rice!