Baku Kitchen! An independent reference of traditional food

Dawadawa

Fermented locust-bean cakes that give northern soups their deep savoury base

Ghana Fermented & pickled Vegetarian One for the adventurous

Your guide, Chef Baku
Drawn, not photographed Updated September 2026
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A full recipe for this dish has not been written yet.

History

Made from Parkia biglobosa seeds fermented for days in northern Ghana; the same ferment is called iru in Nigeria and soumbara in Mali.

Frequently asked questions

What is Dawadawa?

Dawadawa is a fermented & pickled from Ghana: fermented locust-bean cakes that give northern soups their deep savoury base. Made from Parkia biglobosa seeds fermented for days in northern Ghana; the same ferment is called iru in Nigeria and soumbara in Mali.

Made with

beans

Cooked

fermenteddried

Nutrition facts

Nutrition has not been calculated for this dish yet.

The atlas would have to match every ingredient to a food-composition database before it could publish a figure, and an estimate is not worth having if someone is counting on it.

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