West Africa · Volume 01, The Wolof-Mandinka World
Ngalakh
Millet, baobab and groundnut, and a genuinely interfaith Easter custom
Illustration
- Time
- 45 minutes
- Researched
- Researched from 160 sources in the brief
As tradition built it
Serves 8. About 45 minutes.
Ingredients
- 500 g millet semolina
- 200 g baobab pulp (bouye)
- 200 g groundnut paste
- to taste sugar, to taste
- 500 ml water
Method
- Steam the millet semolina as for thiere, in stages: steam, break up the pellets by hand, sprinkle a little water, steam again.
- Dissolve the baobab pulp in water and strain out the fibre.
- Combine the baobab liquid with the groundnut paste and sugar to a smooth, pourable sauce.
- Fold the steamed millet through the sauce and serve at room temperature or chilled.
What a modern chef changes
The staged steam taken from Rung 5, and the baobab acid balanced against the groundnut fat properly
Rung 5
Method
- Follow the multi-stage steam exactly as for thiere, Rung 5: millet's low starting moisture punishes any attempt to rush it.
- Balance the baobab's acidity against the groundnut's fat deliberately, tasting and adjusting rather than following a fixed ratio, since bouye varies significantly in sourness batch to batch.
- Make it on Good Friday if you want the custom rather than only the recipe, and give some away. The dish is not really finished until it has left the house.