← All posts

Iru (Locust Beans): The Soul of Every Ofada Sauce

By Tosin Martins  ·  2 min read

There is a moment in the kitchen when you drop a spoon of iru into a pot of simmering palm oil and the entire room quietly admits it is about to eat well. Iru is small. Iru is humble. Iru is the reason Ofada sauce tastes like Ofada sauce.

What iru actually is

Iru is the fermented seed of the African locust bean tree. In Yoruba kitchens it is called iru. The Igbo call it ogiri. In Hausa it is dawadawa. The tree itself grows across West Africa, and the seeds have been fermented for centuries for one simple reason. Fermentation turns a tough, bitter seed into a soft, deeply fragrant ingredient that carries flavour like nothing else.

The two kinds you will see in the market

Iru woro is the softer, wetter version, mashed during fermentation. It melts into soups and stews. Iru pete is drier, kept whole, often used in Ofada sauce so you can see the small beans in the finished pot. Both are made from the same seed. The difference is handling.

Buying iru that actually smells of iru

Good iru has a strong, confident aroma. Weak iru is either young, diluted, or old. When we buy for the kitchen, we go through trusted traders in Oyo and Ogun who work with the same processors year after year. If you are buying retail in Lagos or Abuja, ask for a small sample before you commit. Your nose will know.

Storing it at home

Keep iru in an airtight container in the fridge. Frozen iru keeps for months. Do not leave it on the counter for more than a day, because the fermentation continues slowly at room temperature and it will eventually over-ripen.

How to use it in Ofada sauce

Add iru near the end of cooking. Its flavour is volatile, and boiling it for 40 minutes flattens it. We stir ours in during the final 10 minutes, with the heat turned low, and let the aroma settle into the palm oil.

If you would like to taste an Ofada sauce built properly around good iru, order ours on WhatsApp. We do not shortcut the soul of the pot.

---