West Africa’s eba bread is a popular “swallow,” a term for the moldable, elastic, and starchy dough-like side dishes of the region. Out of the 10 common swallows across West Africa, eba is the most popular, yet also very simple, being a ball of bread made from cassava that’s eaten in small pieces and dipped into soups or stews.

Garri, a byproduct of the cassava plant, is a type of granulated flour that is a pantry staple across Nigeria; it's high in fiber and essential minerals, and one of the main ingredients in eba. There are two types of garri used to make eba — white and yellow — that only need to be mixed with one other ingredient, water, to make the bread.

The process of making eba is simple and quick; first, you’ll need garri, which can be found pre-packaged in West African grocery stores. Bring a pot of water to a boil, combine it with the garri in a bowl, stir once the mixture thickens, then remove from the bowl and serve once it has a dense, slightly heavy, sticky consistency.