Akabanga

Ingredients

Chilli oil

• 150 gfresh habanero or scotch bonnet chillies, stalks removed
• 250 mlneutral vegetable oil, such as sunflower or rapeseed
• 1 tspsalt
• ½ tspground ginger (optional)
• 2garlic cloves, peeled and left whole (optional)

Kit

• disposable gloves
• a blender
• muslin or a very fine sieve
• 1small glass bottle with a dropper insert

Directions

1. Wear gloves. This is not a suggestion: habanero oil transfers from fingers to eyes for hours afterwards, and washing does not fully remove it.
2. Roughly chop the chillies, seeds and all, and blitz them with 50 ml of the oil to a coarse paste.
3. Warm the remaining oil in a small pan to 110–120°C (225–250°F), hot enough to sizzle a strand of chilli but nowhere near smoking.
4. Stir in the chilli paste with the salt, and the ginger and garlic if using. It will foam and hiss, so stand back, keep your face away from the pan and open a window; the fumes are genuinely eye-watering.
5. Hold it at 100–110°C (200–225°F) for 30–40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bubbling has almost stopped and the solids have darkened from bright orange to a deep rust.
6. Cool completely in the pan, then leave it covered overnight so the oil takes up more colour and heat from the solids.
7. Strain through muslin, pressing only gently, into a clean dry bottle. The finished oil should be clear, bright golden-orange and slightly viscous.
8. Fit the dropper and rest it a week before using. Then use one drop at a time, literally one, on brochettes, chips, beans, grilled maize or in soup.

Technique

• The real Akabanga is a Rwandan commercial product, made since the 1980s by Sina Gérard’s Urwibutso enterprise at Nyirangarama on the Kigali to Musanze road, and sold in tiny yellow-capped dropper bottles. It is a national icon and an export. This is an honest home version of the same idea, not the factory formula.
• The heat lives in the oil, not in solids, so it disperses instantly through a whole plate and cannot be scraped off. Warn your guests. The dropper exists because a teaspoon would be dangerous.
• Keep the oil well below smoking point. Burnt chilli oil turns acrid and no amount of resting will fix it.
• Stored in a dark cupboard the oil keeps six months; refrigeration makes it cloudy but does no harm.

Substitutions

• No habanero: scotch bonnet is identical in practice, African bird’s eye (pili-pili) is hotter and grassier, and red Thai chillies at twice the weight give heat without the fruity perfume.
• No fresh chillies: 60 g dried habanero, rehydrated 20 minutes in hot water then drained and blitzed.

Variations

• A version with ground ginger and garlic in the infusion, which some Rwandan home cooks prefer.
• An unstrained, thicker paste-style condiment, spooned rather than dropped.
• Smoked chillies for a deeper, darker, almost chipotle-like oil.

History

Created in 1984 by Sina Gerard at Nyirangarama; the eye-dropper bottle became a Rwandan icon and the country’s best-known food export.

Frequently asked questions

What is Akabanga?

Akabanga is a sauce & condiment from Rwanda: searing habanero chili oil sold in tiny yellow dropper bottles. Created in 1984 by Sina Gerard at Nyirangarama; the eye-dropper bottle became a Rwandan icon and the country’s best-known food export.

How long does Akabanga take to make?

Akabanga takes 15 min of preparation and 45 min, plus a week resting of cooking. The recipe makes 1 x 100 ml dropper bottle. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Akabanga?

Yes, within limits. No habanero: scotch bonnet is identical in practice, African bird’s eye (pili-pili) is hotter and grassier, and red Thai chillies at twice the weight give heat without the fruity perfume. No fresh chillies: 60 g dried habanero, rehydrated 20 minutes in hot water then drained and blitzed.