Preparation of Gari

   

This next article will speak about the processes involved in the  making of the normal gari.

Traditionally, gari is made at home in Africa, but now,it is common to find people using machines (gari grater) to produce  gari for commercial purposes. Before the arrival of the grater, the entire process was by hand.

As already stated, gari is one of the end products of cassava,therefore the entire gari-making process begins from the cassava

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QmOOS3CpSI4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=utQGFmHhrB4


The cassava is peeled and washed. Washing should be carried out thoroughly to avoid contamination of the final product with peel and sand.The cassava is then grated with the cassava grater,collected into jute sacks and tied. Heavy stones are placed on the sacks to drain enough water because cassava contains a high amount of cyanide which is very poisonous for consumption and must therefore be well-drained and left to ferment for 3-7 days

Fermentation must be properly controlled, as too short a period will result in incomplete detoxification and a bland product. Too long a period will give the product a strong sour taste. Both over and underfermentation also badly affect the texture of the final gari. If too much liquid is pressed from the grated cassava, the gelatinization of starch during subsequent roasting is affected and the product is whiter.If sufficient liquid is not removed, however, the formation of granules during roasting is affected and the dough is more likely to form into lumps

When sufficient amount of the water content is out, the grated cassava, now a little dry, is sieved to obtain smooth granules http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmvlPHcChIE

Fermentation must be properly controlled, as too short a period will result in incomplete detoxification and a bland product. Too long a period will give the product a strong sour taste. Both over and underfermentation also badly affect the texture of the final gari.

If too much liquid is pressed from the grated cassava, the gelatinization of starch during subsequent roasting is affected and the product is whiter.If sufficient liquid is not removed, however, the formation of granules during roasting is affected and the dough is more likely to form into lumps

When sufficient amount of the water content is out, the grated cassava, now a little dry, is sieved to obtain smooth granules

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmvlPHcChIE

Sieving is important to obtain a high-quality product free of fibrous contaminants and with similar-sized granules The powder granules are now dry-fried or oil-fried(to be discussed later) in pans over fire. Double fire is used;the  first fire is  to dry the powder and the second is to give it a crispy taste.The powder is constantly stirred with a broken calabash until the product is dry and the desired crispiness is achieved http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=AkGoIkMsZN0                                                                                                                         Voila! normal gari is made!!                                                                    However, the only difference between making this gari and another type of gari called yellow gari is the smearing of  palm oil in the gari pan just before frying to give the gari a very yellowish colour  a flavoured taste missing in the white gari. in recent developments, another type of gari has emerged, with the difference being the addition of certain ingredients like soyabean and palm oil to enrich the look,feel,taste and protein content of the product