Gari or Ẹbà is a staple food eaten in West Africa, particularly in the Southern parts of Nigeria made from cassava (manioc) flour, known in West Africa as gari.

To make ẹbà, gari flour (which should be further pounded or ground if not already ‘fine’) is mixed into hot water and stirred well with a large wooden spoon until it becomes like a firm dough, firmer than, say, mashed potatoes, so it can be rolled into a ball and can keep its shape.

To eat, a small amount of ẹbà is taken with the fingers and rolled into a small ball and dipped into the ọbẹ (a thick soup) such as okro soup, bitter leaf (ewurò) soup or pepper soup (ọbẹ ata or efo depending on dialect) with either okro, ọgbọnọ (Igbo)/apọn (Yorùbá), or ewédú, meat or fish, stewed vegetables or other sauces such as gbegiri or egusi soup (melon).

Other staples in Sub-Saharan Africa include Amala, Kenkey and Fufu in West Africa, Ugali in East Africa, and Sadza in Southern Africa, though these may also be made with the flour of maize or other starchy root vegetables.

Ẹbà is made from dried grated cassava. It can either come as yellow or an offshade of white. The yellow garri is often eaten by the Igbo tribe of Nigeria. It is made from mixing dried grated cassava with palmoil. Gari is very rich in starch and carbohydrate. It is quite heavy as a meal and a staple food of the western Nigerians. It is often eaten with richly made soups and stews, with beef, stockfish or mutton depending on personal taste. For most Nigerians, especially the southern part, no meal gives quite as much satiety as this delicacy.

Grijs meel to the dutch is a white semolina  in various recipes are eaten with the various Nigerian soup recipes. Semolina is the coarse, purified wheat middlings of durum wheat used in making pasta, breakfast cereals, puddings, and couscous.The term semolina is also used to designate coarse middlings from other varieties of wheat, and from other grains, such as rice and maize.