My entire life has been spent in Nigeria. I have been able to travel to different geographical zones and I took note of the local meals prepared by these zones. It is interesting that these delicacies taste yummy and majority of them are nutritious to the body. I have selected a few of them as my favourite meals because of the nutritional functions.
1. Akara: Also called bean cake and is carried out from grinded beans. As we all know, beans contain protein, therefore akara also contains protein, fats and oil because it is fried in groundnut oil.

Method of Preparation: Raw beans should be washed properly and soaked for at least 5 hours to make the bean to be soft and easy to grind. After grinding to form a liquid mass, add sliced onion, salt to taste and grinded pepper, mix thoroughly. Put enough groundnut oil (cholesterol-free) in a frying pan and allow to steam properly. Mould the mixed bean into little balls and pour into the hot groundnut oil. Turn over the balls at interval until it forms into a cake-like shape. Serve with bread and tea.

2. Brown Rice: Rice is a common food many tribes in Nigeria and the world at large eat in huge quantities. Is there a difference between brown rice and white rice? The answer is a “big yes”. Brown rice is nutritious to the body and has health benefits such as reducing obesity in obese individuals. The conversion from brown rice to white rice depletes essential nutrients such as vitamins (B1, B3, and Bc), manganese, phosphorus, iron, selenium dietary fibre and essential fatty acids thus making brown rice an unprocessed rice. It is found in states like Benue, Osun, Ekiti, Abakiliki, Cross River, Edo State and Lagos.

Method of Preparation: After hand-picking the dirt from the rice, wash thoroughly (at least twice). Then parboil the rice for 10-15 minutes. Draw the water out of the rice using a sieve. Boil a moderate amount of water in a cooking pot. After boiling for 20minutes, add the parboiled rice and allow to cook properly. Serve with vegetable stew and chilled fruit drink.

3. Plantain Porridge: When I visited my grandma in the village, she prepared a delicacy of plantain porridge and I must confess, it was indeed delicious and highly nutritious. Plantains are healthy foods, though unripe ones are better than the ripe ones. Plantains are rich sources of energy, dietary fibres and vitamin A.

Method of Preparation: After removing the peels from the plantain, cut the plantain into circular small shapes or any shape that you desire, wash the plantain with water to remove dirt, put water in a cooking pot and allow to boil. Add the cut plantain, sliced or chopped onions, seasoning cubes (2), stockfish or fresh fish, crayfish and grinded pepper. Boil for 25 or 30 minutes, then add red oil and salt to taste to the mixture and allow to boil further, till the plantain becomes soft. Add vegetables e.g. spinach and cover the pot with its lid and allow to cook a little. Bring down the pot from the cooking stove or gas cooker and serve with chilled water or fruit drink.

4. African Salad: The local name “abacha” is a very popular food among the south eastern states in Nigeria like Enugu, Anambra and Imo. Though it can be taken at anytime of the day, it is also very nutritious containing varying quantities of iron, calcium, carbohydrates, dietary fibre and protein. African salad contains cassava which is cooked till they are soft and edible, they are then sliced and soaked for 10-12 hours (preferably overnight) in cold water, then dried under the sun to remove moisture. The meal also contains oil bean seeds (ugba) which adds to the delicacy and beauty of this unique food.

Method of Preparation: This meal requires lots of ingredients and processes to bring out its unique taste. The process also does not require heat until after the abacha is ready, you can warm it a little if you wish. This ingredient include abacha, ugba, red palm oil, powdered potash (to soften the food), dry fish or stock fish, onion, salt and dry pepper to taste, grounded crayfish, season cubes, nut meg, garden egg and cow skin (canda). The abacha is soaked in cold and allowed to soften while the potash is put in a cup of water and stirred properly. Cow skin or fish can be cooked thoroughly and cut into small bits. The palm oil is poured into a bowl or cooking pot and the potash water in the cup is poured into the red palm oil and stirred thoroughly until it forms a yellow paste. Add the needed ingredients (grounded pepper, nut meg, seasoning cubes, crayfish, sliced onion, ugba) and mixed very well. Ogiri is also added and mixed properly, you can then add your stock fish or canda and mix. The abacha which was soaked is now drained with a sieve and it is put in the red palm oil paste mixture and salt to taste is added and stirred thoroughly to bring out the unique taste. You may add sliced garden egg to the mixture if you wish. Serve with fruit juices or local drinks like chilled palm wine.

5. Ukwa: My mum prepares this meal every weekend, the local name is called ukwa but the English name is called African Breadfruit and the botanical name is treculia Africana. It is very delicious and highly proteinous and it is mostly prepared as porridge.

Method of Preparation: The ingredients used include African breadfruit, dry fish, seasoning cubes, red palm oil, fresh bitter leaves, potash, pepper and salt to taste. The dried ukwa is soaked in water for about 10-12hours preferably overnight. The stock fish should be soaked after the ukwa and bones are removed from the stock fish and cut into bits. Grind the pepper and keep it in a flat plate and also wash the bitter leaves and ukwa to get rid of debris, sand and stones. The washed ukwa is put in a cooking put and cooked in a stove or gas. Pour enough quantity of water at least 1-1.5inch above the water level. Add the potash and stock fish and steam till the ukwa melts indicating that the food is done. Add red palm oil, pepper, seasoning cubes and salt to taste. Stir and steam for five minutes and observe the change of colour of the palm oil from red to yellow. Add bitter leaves and cook for 10-15minutes, serve with chilled fruit drink or soft drink.
SOURCE: http://www.greenhealthng.com/2017/01/my-favourite-nigerian-meals.html

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That means you never really chop eba and wicked egusi soup with side attraction.

Pounded yam and ishapa/egusi (soup) + ponmo
Amala & Ewedu/gbagiri (soup) + goat meat & asorted.