Today was my first time eating a popular dish called banku. In my first encounter, it seemed like a little ball of pizza dough covered with plastic wrap. When I removed the plastic wrap the consistency was still like pizza dough but a bit stickier. I was told to tear off a small piece with my fingers and dip it in the spicy tomato sauce, or use it to pick up a piece of the fish that it was served with. The taste was starchy but a little sweet and the texture is hard to describe, but it was somewhat like a dumpling. All in all my verdict is that banku = delicious!
Banku is apparently made of corn meal which has mixed with water to form a paste, and allowed to ferment for 3-4 days. After that it is kneaded into a dough, cut into small dumplings and then boiled. It is eaten with your hands, and typically served with soups, stews, sauces, meat or fish.
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