Garri
Garri is fermented, toasted cassava granules and one of the most widely eaten foods in West Africa. It is cheap, shelf-stable, and the base for eba, a swallow eaten with soups like egusi, ogbono, and efo riro. This guide covers the main types, how to use it, and where to buy garri near you.
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Toasted with red palm oil — gives a buttery yellow color and richer flavor. Most common across Nigerian homes.
Toasted without palm oil. Cleaner, slightly sour, preferred for soaking (drinking garri) with sugar, milk, and groundnuts.
A very fine, sour white garri from southwest Nigeria. Prized for soaking — fluffs up in cold water with little effort.
Often a coarser, less sour grind. Used for eba, gari foto (fried gari), and gari soakings.
Related cassava products often sold next to garri — used to make fufu, a smoother swallow.
Pour hot water over garri, stir until smooth and stretchy, then eat with egusi, ogbono, okra, or vegetable soup.
Cold water + ijebu or white garri, sugar, milk, groundnuts, and roasted coconut — a quick everyday meal.
Garri sautéed with onions, tomatoes, peppers, and protein — a fast Ghanaian-style dish.
Garri also goes into kokoro, kuli kuli mixes, and as a binder in some snacks.
Garri is made from cassava. Fresh cassava is peeled, grated, fermented in sacks for a few days to develop the characteristic sour note, pressed to remove liquid, sieved, and dry-toasted in shallow pans until granular and crisp.
Yellow garri is toasted with red palm oil, giving it color, fat, and a deeper flavor. White garri is toasted plain and tends to be more sour — preferred for soaking with cold water, sugar, and milk.
African grocery stores almost always stock garri, usually in 2 lb, 4 lb, and bulk bags. International supermarkets in cities with a large West African community (Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, the Bronx, Washington DC, Minneapolis) also carry it. Use our African Grocery Stores Near Me directory to find a shop.
No. Garri is already toasted and shelf-stable. To make eba, you just add hot water and stir. For soaking, you add cold water — no cooking required.