Four balls of banku inside a perforated bowl
Have you wondered how the name ’Banku’ came about as a Ghanaian dish?
There is a history behind all Ghanaian dishes, but that of banku may just surprise you as the name came from a language of a tribe in the country.
The name banku originated from the phrase ‘Baa Mi Ku’ in the Ga language, where Baa is a ‘leaf,’ ‘Mi’ means inside, and ‘Ku’ is a term given to a staple food.
According to a video by Kobe Boujee, the food was enjoyed by both the Ga people and the Ewe people because of the connection between the two tribes, although the Ewe people had their own version of making the food which fell under the Akple category.
However, he said the Ga people made banku with only corn dough, whereas the Ewe people added cassava dough to theirs.
The two styles of preparation bought about a little confusion on the originators of the food banku, as people making the ‘agbelima’ called it banku.
It was equally served in the leaf just like how the Gas serve their banku, but the Ewes called theirs banku.
In all of these, one thing was common, banku was still served in a leaf in both places.
Watch the video of Kobe explaining the origin of this food below:
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