Definition

1. Noun:
   • A food paste made from African wild mango seeds: "dika bread" refers to a somewhat astringent paste prepared by grinding and heating the seeds of the African wild mango (Irvingia gabonensis). It is a traditional staple food in some African communities.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The village market sells dika bread wrapped in banana leaves.
  • Dika bread is often used as a thickening agent for soups and stews.

Advanced Usage

• As a culinary staple: The term is used to describe a fundamental food item in specific regional diets.
  • In parts of West Africa, dika bread provides essential nutrients and calories.

Variants and Related Words

• Dika nut: Refers to the seed/kernel of the African wild mango used to make the paste.
  • The dika nuts are dried before being processed into paste.
• Ogbono soup: A Nigerian soup that famously uses ground dika seeds (often called ogbono) as its base.
  • Ogbono soup gets its distinctive, slimy texture from dika seeds.

Synonyms

• Ogbono paste: (Contextual synonym, specifically in Nigerian cuisine) The ground seed paste used in cooking.
• African mango seed paste: A descriptive synonym explaining the main ingredient.

Notes on Usage

• "Dika bread" is a compound noun. The core target word for this entry is the full term "dika bread". It is a specific culinary item and is not typically used in idiomatic expressions or phrasal verbs.
• The "bread" in the name does not refer to leavened wheat bread but to a dense, paste-like food product.

Noun

1. somewhat astringent paste prepared by grinding and heating seeds of the African wild mango; a staple food of some African peoples