Kuli-kuli

Ingredients

Peanut paste

• 500 graw peanuts, skin on
• 1small onion, roughly chopped
• 20 gfresh ginger, peeled
• 1 tspcayenne or ground dried chilli
• 2 tspsalt
• ½ tspground white pepper (optional)
• 2–3 tbspwarm water, if needed

To fry

• the oil pressed out of the peanuts, topped up with groundnut oil to a depth of 4 cm (about 500 ml)

Directions

1. Roast the peanuts in a dry heavy pan over medium heat for 10–12 minutes, shaking constantly, until the skins darken, split and smell strongly toasted. Do not let them scorch or the whole batch turns bitter.
2. Cool them a little, then rub them between your palms or in a cloth and winnow away the loose red skins.
3. Grind the warm peanuts with the onion and ginger to a thick, oily paste — a stone mill, a heavy blender or a hand-cranked mincer all work. Grind twice if necessary; the paste must be very fine.
4. Season with the salt, cayenne and white pepper and knead the paste hard with your hands for 8–10 minutes. Oil will begin to weep out and pool.
5. Squeeze the paste in fistfuls and pour off the released oil into a bowl. Repeat until the paste has changed from a loose, oily mass to a firm, dry, mouldable dough. This extraction is the entire technique — kuli-kuli that is not de-oiled will disintegrate in the pan.
6. If the dough cracks rather than holds when pressed, work in warm water a teaspoon at a time until it just binds.
7. Roll pieces into ropes about 1 cm thick and either join them into rings or cut them into 6 cm sticks. Keep them thin; thick pieces stay soft in the middle.
8. Heat the reserved peanut oil, topped up as needed, to 160°C (325°F) — a moderate heat, not fierce. Fry in batches for 6–8 minutes, turning, until they are a deep even brown and hard right through.
9. Drain on a rack and cool completely. They should be brittle and snap cleanly; a bendy kuli-kuli was fried too fast or too briefly. Stored airtight, they keep two weeks.

Technique

• Kuli-kuli is a groundnut snack of the Sahel belt, sold in Benin, Nigeria, Niger and Togo, and made almost entirely by women in home workshops.
• The pressed-out oil is both the by-product and the frying medium; nothing is wasted, and frying in the peanut’s own oil is what gives the authentic flavour.
• A low, slow fry is essential. High heat browns the outside while the inside is still soft, and the piece will go stale and chewy the next day.
• The ground residue left after frying, crumbled, is sold as a topping for garri and salads.

Substitutions

• Ready-roasted unsalted peanuts can be used if you cannot roast your own — the flavour is slightly flatter, so add an extra teaspoon of ginger.
• If your paste refuses to release enough oil, add 1–2 tbsp of groundnut oil to bind, then de-oil again by pressing between two boards under a weight.

Variations

• Flat discs and small balls are equally traditional shapes; rings are the market standard in Benin.
• Some makers add a pinch of ground cloves or grains of selim to the paste, giving a distinctly perfumed version.

History

A Hausa preparation from the north: roasted groundnut paste has its oil pressed out before the residue is shaped and fried crisp.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kuli-kuli?

Kuli-kuli is a snack from Benin: crunchy fried peanut-paste rings and sticks. A Hausa preparation from the north: roasted groundnut paste has its oil pressed out before the residue is shaped and fried crisp.

How long does Kuli-kuli take to make?

Kuli-kuli takes 40 min of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 30 pieces. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Kuli-kuli?

Yes, within limits. Ready-roasted unsalted peanuts can be used if you cannot roast your own — the flavour is slightly flatter, so add an extra teaspoon of ginger. If your paste refuses to release enough oil, add 1–2 tbsp of groundnut oil to bind, then de-oil again by pressing between two boards under a weight.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kuli-kuli?

Roast the peanuts in a dry heavy pan over medium heat for 10–12 minutes, shaking constantly, until the skins darken, split and smell strongly toasted. Do not let them scorch or the whole batch turns bitter.