Tuwo

Ingredients

Tuwo (millet paste)

• 500 gfine millet flour (hatsi)
• 1.2 litreswater
• ½ tspsalt

Miyan kuka (baobab-leaf sauce)

• 60 gdried baobab leaf powder (kuka)
• 4 tbspgroundnut oil
• 1large onion, finely chopped
• 3tomatoes, grated
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 2dried red chillies, ground, or 1 tsp ground cayenne
• 30 gdawadawa (fermented locust bean), crumbled
• 2 tspground ginger
• 80 groasted groundnut paste
• 10dried okra pods, ground to powder (optional, for the pull)
• 1 litrewater
• 2 tspsalt

Directions

1. Bring 800 ml of the water to a rolling boil in a heavy pot. Slake 150 g of the millet flour with 200 ml cold water to a lump-free cream and stir it into the boiling water; cook 5 minutes until it thickens to a glossy gruel.
2. Rain in the remaining millet flour a handful at a time, beating hard against the side of the pot with a flat wooden spoon (muciya). The paste will fight back and pull away from the walls.
3. Cover, drop the heat to its lowest and steam 15 minutes so the raw starch cooks through, then beat again for 3–4 minutes, splashing in a little hot water if it is too stiff. Done tuwo is smooth, matte and holds a thumbprint.
4. Wet a small bowl, pack in a portion, turn it out onto a plate as a dome and repeat. Cover with a cloth.
5. For the sauce, heat the groundnut oil in a wide pot and fry the onion over medium heat 5 minutes until translucent, then add tomato paste and fry 3 minutes until it darkens and the oil separates.
6. Add the grated tomato, chilli, ginger and crumbled dawadawa; cook 8 minutes until the raw tomato smell has gone and the mixture is jammy.
7. Pour in the water, season and simmer 10 minutes, then whisk in the groundnut paste and cook 5 minutes more.
8. Sprinkle the kuka powder over the surface through your fingers and stir once only, gently. Simmer 3–4 minutes until the sauce turns deep green and slippery. If using okra powder, add it now for extra draw.
9. Serve the domes of tuwo hot with the sauce poured around them; eat with the right hand, pinching off a piece and dipping.

Technique

• Kuka is stirred in at the very end and barely cooked. Boiling it hard turns the sauce grey and kills the sour-green flavour that defines miyan kuka.
• The beating is the whole technique. Under-beaten tuwo is lumpy and tastes of raw flour; work it until the paste squeaks against the pot.
• Dawadawa is the savoury backbone of Nigerien cooking and does the job a stock cube does elsewhere – do not skip it.

Substitutions

• No millet flour? Sorghum flour makes tuwon dawa, or fine maize meal makes tuwon masara – both are eaten across Niger.
• If you cannot find baobab leaf, dried moringa or sorrel leaf powder gives a similar green, faintly sour sauce, though less slippery.

Variations

• Miyan taushe, the same tuwo under a pumpkin and groundnut sauce.
• Miyan kubewa, an all-okra sauce, eaten when baobab leaf is out of season.

History

Millet or sorghum flour is beaten into a stiff paste and served with soup poured over; it is eaten with the right hand from a shared bowl.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tuwo?

Tuwo is a main from Niger: millet paste with baobab-leaf or okra sauce; the daily staple. Millet or sorghum flour is beaten into a stiff paste and served with soup poured over; it is eaten with the right hand from a shared bowl.

How long does Tuwo take to make?

Tuwo takes 20 min of preparation and 45 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Tuwo?

Yes, within limits. No millet flour? Sorghum flour makes tuwon dawa, or fine maize meal makes tuwon masara – both are eaten across Niger. If you cannot find baobab leaf, dried moringa or sorrel leaf powder gives a similar green, faintly sour sauce, though less slippery.

What is the most important thing to get right in Tuwo?

The beating is the whole technique. Under-beaten tuwo is lumpy and tastes of raw flour; work it until the paste squeaks against the pot.