Salata dakwa

Ingredients

The salad

• 4tomatoes, diced
• 1cucumber, diced
• 1onion, finely chopped
• or spring onions
• chopped parsley
• or coriander

The dakwa dressing

• 4 tablespoonspeanut butter
• smooth, unsweetened
• or 100 g roasted peanuts
• ground fine
• juice of 3 limes
• about 100 ml water
• 1garlic clove, crushed
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• black pepper

Sometimes added

• 1hot chilli, chopped
• 1 teaspoonground cumin
• a little sugar
• 1 tablespoonoil

To serve

• with stews
• or grilled meat
• at room temperature

Directions

1. Keep it separate if anyone is allergic. It goes stiff and grainy at first. Keep adding the liquid gradually. It becomes smooth again after that. Add the liquid a little at a time. Whisk it in thoroughly each time. Do not add it all in at once at all. Use unsweetened peanut butter only. Check the label before buying it. It takes only a few minutes more. Dice the tomatoes small and even.
2. Deseed the tomatoes if you can. Removing them keeps the salad drier. Scoop them out with a small spoon. Dice the cucumber small and even. Deseed it as well if it is watery. The firm flesh is what is wanted. Peel it if the skin is at all tough. Salt the diced cucumber lightly. Let it sit for fifteen minutes.
3. Drain and pat it dry afterward. That keeps the salad far crisper. Reduce the dressing salt if you do it. Chop the onion very finely indeed. Chop it as fine as you possibly can.
4. Rinse the chopped onion in cold water. Drain and dry it thoroughly after. Spring onion needs none of that. Put the peanut butter in a bowl. Use a bowl larger than seems needed. Start with the peanut paste alone. Whisk the lime juice into the paste. It seizes and goes stiff at once. Keep whisking it right through. Whisk the water in very gradually. Add a spoonful at a time only.
5. Whisk it smooth before the next. Different peanut butters need different amounts. Add more water if it thickens later. Whisk the crushed garlic into it. Crush it to a paste with salt first. Use the flat of a large knife.
6. Taste it and season the dressing. It should be sharp, salty and nutty. Add more lime if it tastes heavy. Add salt gradually and taste again. Whisk in chilli, cumin or sugar. Cumin adds a warm earthy note. Put the diced vegetables in a bowl. Twenty minutes ahead is about right. Pour the dressing over the vegetables. Toss it gently rather than stirring hard.
7. Coat everything evenly as you go. The tomato breaks up if handled roughly. Lift and turn it with two spoons. Do not drown the salad in dressing. Add it gradually and judge it. Keep any extra back for the table.
8. Stir chopped parsley through it. Add it shortly before serving. Keep some back to scatter on top. Turn it out into a serving dish. Peanut fat sets when it is cold. Take it out well ahead of serving. Cold dressing goes thick and claggy. Let it come back to room temperature. Stir it again just before serving. It keeps one day refrigerated.

Technique

• The dressing is built entirely on peanuts, peanut allergy can be severe and even life-threatening, and nothing about the sauce announces it — it simply looks like an ordinary dressing coating every part of the salad. Tell people before they serve themselves rather than relying on them recognising it, keep it separate if anyone present is allergic, and be careful about cross-contamination.
• Peanut butter seizes when liquid first goes in, going stiff and grainy in a way that looks entirely wrong — that is normal, since water disrupts the fat and solids and the mixture tightens before it loosens. Add the liquid a spoonful at a time, whisking smooth before the next, and it becomes glossy and pourable. Judge it by consistency rather than measurement, since different peanut butters need different amounts.
• Serve it at room temperature rather than chilled: peanut fat sets when cold, so the dressing goes thick and claggy and loses much of its flavour. Take it out ahead of serving and stir it again.

Substitutions

• Roasted peanuts ground fine stand in for peanut butter and give a fresher stronger flavour closer to real dakwa; use unsweetened peanut butter only, since many brands contain added sugar which ruins the balance — check the label.
• Chopped chilli, ground cumin, a little sugar and a spoonful of oil are all genuinely used in the dressing.

Variations

• Tomato and cucumber release water that thins the dressing and makes the salad soggy: deseed both, salt the diced cucumber for fifteen minutes and drain and dry it, and dress the salad only about twenty minutes before serving. Reduce the dressing salt if you have salted the cucumber.
• Chop the onion very finely and rinse it in cold water to mellow it, drained and dried after — raw onion is strong here and coarse pieces dominate a mouthful. Spring onion needs neither.
• Peanuts are not native to Africa but came from South America through the Atlantic trade, which included the trade in people, crops crossing on the same ships; they became a major Sudanese crop, and that abundance made dakwa universal. The atlas records that history plainly.

History

Dakwa is roasted peanut paste; Sudan’s peanut crop made the dressing universal, and the salad accompanies almost every stew and grilled meat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Salata dakwa?

Salata dakwa is a salad & side from Sudan: tomato, cucumber and onion dressed in peanut-butter lime sauce. Dakwa is roasted peanut paste; Sudan’s peanut crop made the dressing universal, and the salad accompanies almost every stew and grilled meat.

How long does Salata dakwa take to make?

Salata dakwa takes 20 minutes of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Salata dakwa?

Yes, within limits. Roasted peanuts ground fine stand in for peanut butter and give a fresher stronger flavour closer to real dakwa; use unsweetened peanut butter only, since many brands contain added sugar which ruins the balance — check the label. Chopped chilli, ground cumin, a little sugar and a spoonful of oil are all genuinely used in the dressing.

What is the most important thing to get right in Salata dakwa?

Keep it separate if anyone is allergic. It goes stiff and grainy at first. Keep adding the liquid gradually. It becomes smooth again after that. Add the liquid a little at a time. Whisk it in thoroughly each time. Do not add it all in at once at all. Use unsweetened peanut butter only. Check the label before buying it. It takes only a few minutes more. Dice the tomatoes small and even.