Egusi is the seed of one species Citrullus Lanatus, a type of watermelon. The soup made from egusi seed is quite popular all over Nigeria.
Normally it's eaten with pounded yam and I have to tell you that it is really delicious. We have nothing like this in Hungary and when I first tried it I've eaten two full plates from it.
Today I wouldn't like to write about how delicious egusi soup is but what we can get fro eating it.
First of egusi is quite high in fat content that makes it high in calories. Talk less of my Yoruba husband that love adding lots of palm oil to our egusi soup.Look at the chart below!
The basic egusi Soup enriched with few chunks of stockfish and two pieces of meat contains a total of roughly 470 calories per serving without pounded yam!
But probably you also noticed that egusi is rich in vitamin A,Vitamin C, Calcium and iron.
Vitamin A is commonly known as the vitamin needed for good eyesight. Along with promoting vision, vitamin A is also vital for maintaining healthy skin, and supporting the immune system.
Vitamin C protects against heart attacks and strokes. In general, this nutritional element promotes better vascular health and vitamin C may even be important in preventing things like Alzheimer’s disease.
Calcium is needed for good teeth and strong bones and for the proper function of nerves, muscles, kidneys, and the heart.
Iron is very important because it helps your body to make haemoglobin. Haemoglobin, or ‘Hb’, is the protein found in red blood cells that carries oxygen around your body and gives blood its red colour.
What can happen if you have low iron levels?
If the level of iron in your body falls, your red blood cells may not contain enough haemoglobin. At first you may not notice any difference, however, if the amount of haemoglobin falls further, you can start to feel tired. If the shortage of iron is more severe, you can feel unusually weak or breathless. This is called anaemia.
Egusi Soup - Nigerian Egusi Soup (1.36cups)
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