Gari (also spelled garri) is one of the most common words you'll see on West African grocery shelves, and it can be confusing at first because it refers to both a raw ingredient and a dish. Gari itself is fermented cassava that's been grated, pressed to remove liquid, then roasted into small, dry, slightly crunchy granules. On its own, it's shelf-stable for months and endlessly versatile.
There are two common ways to eat it. The simplest is to soak it briefly in cold water with sugar, milk or groundnuts for a quick, filling snack or light meal — popular with students and anyone short on time. The other is eba: gari stirred into hot water until it forms a smooth, stretchy dough, then served as a swallow alongside soups like egusi, ogbono or okra.
Not all gari is the same. Standard white or yellow gari has a milder flavour, while garri Ijebu — from Nigeria's Ogun State — is fermented longer and has a noticeably sharper, more sour taste that many people specifically seek out once they've tried it. We stock both, along with cassava flour (elubo/lafun) for other swallows, so it's worth trying a smaller pack of each to see which you prefer.
Browse our full range of gari, garri Ijebu and other cassava products in the grocery collection, with delivery across Melbourne's western suburbs.