The warm, comfortable dining room at the Van Nuys outpost of Veronica’s Kitchen, a restaurant that specializes in Nigerian cuisine. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Egusi soup, a thick, peppery mélange of crushed nut-like melon seeds and seasoned collard greens, is West Africa’s most famous dish. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Try the moi moi, a pâté-smooth chile-spiced loaf made from black-eyed peas, accompanied by a tomatoey sauce that’s simply called “stew.” (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Chef Maria Love fills a bowl in the kitchen at Veronica’s in Van Nuys. Too far to drive? There’s also a second outlet in Inglewood. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
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The vegetable dish ocra comes with a side of fufu, West Africa’s staff of life. Here, the doughy starch ball is made of smooth-pounded white yam. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
The menu includes lamb stew with a side of rice and dodo, ripe, fried plantains. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
“The Fufu Land,” proclaims the sign over Veronica’s Kitchen, a newly minted Nigerian place at the back of a mini-mall on busy Sherman Way in Van Nuys. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
