The market · Seasonings and ferments · West Africa

Locust beans

Iru or dawadawa: the fermented seeds of the African locust bean tree — pungent, funky, savoury.

funky · fermented · pungent

What to do with it

Classics built on it
NigerianAmalaA smooth, brown swallow of yam flour stirred into boiling water, eaten with ewedu, a slippery soup of jute leaves, and gbegiri, a bean soup.No one here has made it yetNigerianMiyan kukaA dark green, gently slippery soup of powdered dried baobab leaves, with meat or dried fish and daddawa, eaten with tuwo.No one here has made it yet

If you can't find it

West African grocers, as iru or dawadawa — dried or fermented.

  1. 1Fermented black bean
    A little, mashed; or a spoon of miso
    You lose the deep, cheesy funk.
Honestly

Nothing quite has it; the swap gets you some of the funk.

Goes with

palm oilspinachscotch bonnetground crayfish

Knowing it

Where to buy
African grocers, fresh-frozen or dried, whole or mashed.
Worth knowing
Fry it in palm oil for efo riro or ayamase. Rinse the dried kind first.

Kitchens that keep it in

Nigeria, West AfricaNigerianBig flavours from a big country: tomato and pepper bases, smoke, groundnut and the scotch bonnet — and party food at a scale all of its own.11 classics · 2 cooked here

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