African Recipes
97 recipes found
Roasted Mushrooms in Ata Din Din
Earthy mushrooms hold their own among a piquant red pepper relish — a riot of flavors. The relish’s base is known in Yoruba as ata din din, a condiment like sauce common throughout West Africa made from ground bell pepper, onions, chiles and sometimes tomatoes. Roast the mushrooms until lightly browned and crisp, as they absorb a lot more flavor when they've been slightly dehydrated. Pickled onion adds crunch and a hint of acid, and a scattering of fresh herbs gives it all a refreshing lightness, while being a pretty garnish. Serve over steamed rice and fried sweet plantains, or reserve as a vegetable filling for moin moin.
Chicken Yassa
Popular across West Africa, chicken yassa coaxes deep flavor from a handful of simple ingredients: smoky grilled chicken, sweet caramelized onions, tangy lime, bright ginger and spicy Scotch bonnet chile. This version comes from “The Fonio Cookbook” by chef Pierre Thiam (Lake Isle Press, 2019). Mr. Thiam, who was born and raised in Dakar, is the chef and owner of Teranga, a West African restaurant in Harlem. His recipe calls for bone-in chicken legs, but, in southern Senegal, where the dish originated, you might be served other chicken parts, fish yassa or even lamb yassa. The cooking method is flexible: The chicken develops the best smoky char when grilled, but will still be delicious seared in a grill pan or cast-iron skillet.
Sauce Moyo With Mango
A chunky blend of fresh tomatoes, red onions, chile and lime juice, sauce moyo can be found across West Africa, particularly in Benin, Togo and Senegal. It's great in hot and humid weather, though it brings a little heat and flavor of its own thanks to the addition of a Scotch bonnet or habanero chile. Fresh tomatoes are traditionally the source of its mild sweetness, but, here, mango is added for a fruity burst of flavor. Seasonal stone fruits, like peaches, apricots and nectarines, will work just as well.
Spicy Tunisian Carrot Frittata
Tunisian frittatas are sometimes baked in an earthenware dish in the oven, sometimes on top of the stove. This one, adapted from a recipe by Clifford Wright, is made like an Italian frittata, but the spices are unmistakably Tunisian.
Liberian Peanut Soup
This Liberian peanut soup, recipe courtesy of Helene Cooper, should satisfy peanut butter lovers, as well as anyone who wants a thick, rich, meaty dish.
Kunun Gyada (Spiced Peanut Rice Porridge)
Short-grain rice imparts a subtle sweetness to this creamy, peanutty blend. Aromatic cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves — or any other warming spices — meld into the comforting porridge, which is often served at the beginning or end of the day as a means of filling the gap between meals in northern Nigeria. Serve hot or room temperature, with a dab of tamarind purée for a bit of acid and some granulated sugar, honey or dates for sweetness. Or, mix the porridge with kefir for a drinkable version (see Tips).
Moin Moin (Steamed Bean Cakes)
Prepared by rehydrating dried beans, then peeling and grinding them into a paste and finally steaming it in leaves, these fluffy bean cakes can be quite the project. In Lagos, where this is a common Nigerian dish served at celebrations and on weekend mornings, community grinding machines can be heard on Fridays, working away large basins of beans in preparation for whatever festivities the weekend may bring. Banana leaves, which impart a slight grassy flavor, are used in this recipe, but ọlẹ (pronounced oh-LEH), a type of water lily leaf, is most common in Lagos. Moin moin is typically flavored with powdered, dried crayfish and can be stuffed with meat, fish, boiled eggs or, in some cases, all three. This vegan take includes the option to stuff the cakes with roasted mushrooms in ata din din, a delicious addition. Serve hot, alongside dishes like jollof rice, efo riro and dodo for the ultimate party plate, or enjoy alone, slightly unwrapped right on the banana leaf.
Kuku Paka (Chicken With Coconut)
This rich dish of chicken in a spiced coconut sauce comes from Kenya's coast, though creative cooks now produce variations of it all over the country. This simple version was adapted from many of them, including Kirti Patel, Agnes Kalyonge and the author Madhur Jaffrey. It requires slowly grilling the marinated chicken, ideally over charcoal — a little extra work that lends the finished kuku paka a wonderful smoky flavor — though in a pinch, you can use a grill pan on the stove. Note: The coconut sauce should be creamy but not flat, so be sure to spike it at the end with enough lemon juice to give it the edge of sourness that is one of this great dish's defining characteristics.
Homemade Merguez
North African Bean Stew With Barley and Winter Squash
This warming, highly spiced stew is rich in beans, grains and chunks of sweet winter squash. Feel free to substitute other grains for the barley. Farro works particularly well. If you’d prefer something soupier, thin it with a little broth or water before serving.
Ghanaian Spinach Stew With Sweet Plantains
This recipe is an adaptation of the smoky spinach stew served at Papaye, Samuel Obeng's restaurant in the Bronx. Built on a base of onions and ginger sauteed in palm oil, made fiery with habanero, and thickened with ground pumpkin seeds and tomatoes, the stew calls for African smoked, dried shrimp powder; its flavor is amazing. (Asian versions are typically unsmoked and chewier.) But smoked paprika and fish sauce make a serviceable substitute.
Chicken Mafe
This West African favorite, adapted from Rama Dione and Papa Diagne, balances the richness of peanut butter with tomato and aromatics, cooked down to a thick gravy. The addition of Southeast Asian fish sauce gives the dish depth and is somewhat traditional, given the Vietnamese influence, via the French, in Senegal. But absolutely traditional would be to eat this with guests, directly from a large platter, to demonstrate welcome and unity.
Braai-Spiced T-Bone Steaks
Grilling meat is practically the South African national sport, crossing lines of wealth, geography and even race. Braai means grill in Afrikaans, and some say it’s the only word recognized in all of the country’s 11 official languages. There’s no reason this braai sout, a fragrant dry rub, can’t be used on steaks other than a T-bone. But the T-bone has had special status there since Archbishop Desmond Tutu, as part of a campaign to bring all South Africans together around the braai, pointed out that the shape of that steak mimics the shape of Africa itself. Serve with whole potatoes roasted in the coals, and drink beer or one of South Africa’s excellent wines.
Pilipili Oil
Pilipili, chiles in Swahili, infuse oil along with aromatics like herbs and onion to create a spicy condiment. Similar to hot sauce, these chile oils, found in Africa and across the African diaspora, provide a kick when drizzled on a dish. This version from the chef and author Bryant Terry uses fresh, small bird’s eye or Thai chiles for their vibrant taste and their availability in most supermarkets. Smoked paprika adds a bit of depth and helps to make the oil fire-engine red.
Spicy Lamb Sausage With Grilled Onions and Zucchini
This is modeled after North African merguez, which is sometimes served as part of an elaborate couscous meal, but good on a bun, too. For its deep rust-red color, merguez relies on lots of dried sweet red pepper (paprika) and a goodly amount of hot red pepper (cayenne). Garlic, cumin and coriander are strong supporting players.
Spicy Pickled Carrots
These sweet and spicy pickled carrots are simple to make. The chef Pierre Thiam pairs them with black-eyed pea fritters, but they make a great condiment for just about everything.
Black-Eyed Pea Fritters
The chef Pierre Thiam puts a twist on these traditional Senegalese accara, or black-eyed pea fritters. They are sold on street corners throughout West Africa, usually on fresh baguettes as a sandwich. But Mr. Thiam treats them a bit like falafel and stuffs them into fresh pita bread instead. The spicy pickled carrots he uses as a condiment are based on a recipe from his Vietnamese godfather. Accara are deliciously light and fairly addictive, and they make a great snack with drinks.
Merguez Sausage
Merguez (A Tunisian sausage)
Bobotie (The Boschendal's recipe)
Bobotie
The South African national dish, bobotie, is a meat pie of coarsely ground lamb with plenty of curry, bay or lemon leaves and fruits, covered with a custard of milk and eggs, as homey and much loved as meatloaf is in the United States.
Warm Cabbage and Green Beans
Thiebou Dienn (Cheb)
Peanut Dukkah
This is one of my favorite dukkahs. I like it with vegetables and with pita, and on its own as a snack.