Ashanti Sunday Classic · Pounded Cassava & Plantain
Fufu with Nkatenkwan (Groundnut Soup)
Photo: aripeskoe2 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
In Kumasi's chop bars the pounding is often a two-person, cross-rhythm job — one person turns and folds the dough between strikes while the other swings the pestle, timed so a hand is never in the mortar when it comes down.
Boiled cassava and plantain are pounded together in a wooden mortar until smooth and stretchy, then served in a bowl of nkatenkwan — a rich soup built on roasted peanut paste, often with goat meat or fish. Kumasi's chop bars treat it as close to non-negotiable, especially on Sundays.
Why it's made this way: In Ashanti forest-zone cooking, cassava-and-plantain fufu paired with a hearty soup is the everyday centerpiece of a meal, and Kumasi's chop bar culture has made fufu with nkatenkwan one of the city's most reliably ordered dishes.
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