VELVET tamarind (dialium guineense) commonly known as ‘icheku’ in igbo, ‘awin’ in yoruba and ‘tsamiyar- kurm’ in hausa, and ‘Yooyi’ in Ghana.

-High Antiox­idant Power: The fruit is a good source of vitamin C and its consump­tion can contribute to satisfying the journal requirement that is 90 to 110 mg.

-Treats Scurvy and Infections: The fruit pulp has high ascor­bic acid content vitamin hence used as a food supplement. The high vitamin C con­tent boosts the immune system and helps the body against infections.

-Healing Wounds: The velvet fruit pulp has interesting content in calcium and magnesium. Calcium participates in ossifica­tion, to the muscular contraction, and to the blood clotting.

-Repairs blood vessel and fights Anemia: The velvet tamarind fruit pulp is rich in iron. It is indispensable for iron absorption; cloves repair and blood vessel formation via collagen synthesis. The pulp’s iron absorption is more efficient because of the presence of vitamin C.

-Prevention of Hypertension: The val­ues obtained for sodium and potassium of the velvet tamarind fruit pulp were re­spectively Preliminary studies indicate that short-term potassium depletion also elevates bloodpressure in hypertensive pa­tients. Potassium supplementation low­ers blood pressure in hypertensive patients ingesting normal amounts of sodium.

-Reliefs Menstrual Cramp and stops Diar­rhoea: The stem bark extract has significant analgesic property hence, can be used to re­duce menstrual pain. You can take it along with papaya leaf, salt, and water to work effective­ly. It can also stop diarrhea.

-Hemorrhoids (pile): Piles are swollen veins in the anal canal caused by too much pres­sure in the pelvic and rectal areas and while not life-threatening, these veins can be very painful. A study performed on ethanolic leaves extract of velvet tamarind showed it to be beneficial for pile treatment.

Source: eprojectlibrary.com

Pinkaso is a savory snack made from flour, onions, and pepper.

It is usually paired with Hau­sa koko (millet porridge) but can be equally enjoyed with any other breakfast cereal or beverage of choice.

Ingredients

-100 grams of all-purpose flour

-1 tablespoonful of salt

-2 grams of dry active yeast

-2 grams of baking soda

-10 grams of chopped onion

-5 grams of fresh pepper

-One bottle of 5 litres oil

Preparation

-Place all the dry ingredi­ents into a bowl and mix and wash under running water

– Blend or grind the onion and pepper

-Add the blended mixture to the flour

-Pour flour in a big bowl and add yeast, salt and baking soda

-Mix into a dough and knead to activate the gluten in the dough

-When the gluten has activat­ed, the dough will look stretchy

– Cover the bowl with cling film and place it in a warm place for the dough to rise

-Deep fry by heating the oil until very hot, then reduce heat to medium

-Fry on medium heat. To take portions of the dough, dip your hands in water, and take a small ball of the dough

-Using your thumb and mid­dle finger, create a hole in the ball of dough and gently drop in the oil and fry on medium heat until golden brown and crunchy

-Remove the pinkaso and place it on kitchen towels to absorb some of the oil. Serve pinkaso with your favourite beverage