Niger cuisine: Tuareg and Hausa dishes from the Sahel

Niger stretches across the Sahel, a semi-arid belt where agriculture centers on drought-resistant cereals. The country brings together several peoples: the Hausa, about half of the population, then the Zarma-Songhai, the Fulani, the Tuareg, and the Kanuri, each with their own culinary customs. Here are five dishes that give a glimpse of this Sahelian cuisine, with the ingredients to prepare them in France.

History and influences of Niger cuisine

Millet is the country's staple cereal, eaten as a paste, a porridge, or a couscous depending on the region. The Hausa, the majority farming people settled in the south of the country and as far as northern neighboring Nigeria, developed the cereal pastes called tuwo, served with a sauce or a soup. The Zarma-Songhai, settled along the Niger River in the southwest, combine these cereals with green leaves such as moringa. The Tuareg, desert nomads, developed a bread baked under the sand, and the Fulani, herders, made fermented milk a central food of their cuisine.

Five dishes from Niger cuisine

1. Dambou

Dambou is a millet or rice couscous mixed with finely chopped moringa leaves, with oil, onion, and spices, sometimes topped with grilled meat or fish. Originating from the Zarma-Songhai of the southwest of the country, it is prepared especially for festivities and weddings. See our dambou recipe.

2. Taguella

Taguella is the bread of the Sahara Tuareg: a flatbread of semolina or wheat or millet flour, kneaded with water and salt, then baked directly under the hot sand and the embers of a fire. It is eaten with a tomato and vegetable sauce, meat, or chili.

3. Kilishi

Kilishi is a meat, most often beef, cut into thin strips, coated with a spiced peanut paste and then dried in the sun. This preservation method, specific to the Hausa world that extends from southern Niger to northern Nigeria, made it possible to keep meat without refrigeration, particularly during livestock movements.

4. Tuwo

Tuwo is a thick paste obtained by mixing millet, sorghum, or corn flour with boiling water, worked until a smooth consistency is reached. A daily dish of the Hausa, it is eaten with the fingers, dipped in a sauce. Its preparation method is close to that of tô, its equivalent among neighboring peoples: see our Burkinabe tô recipe.

5. Kunu

Kunu is a fermented drink made from millet, sorghum, or corn, sometimes flavored with ginger. Among the Fulani, it is prepared with fermented milk under the name fura da nono, the fura (millet ball) then being mixed with the nono (fermented milk). This drink, specific to the Hausa and Fulani world, is found both in Niger and in neighboring Nigeria. See our Hausa kunu recipe, a specialty from northern Nigeria prepared using the same method among the Hausa of Niger.

Ingredients for Niger cuisine to gather in France

Several ingredients recur from one Niger dish to another:

• millet, the base cereal of tuwo, dambou, and kunu, in the form of millet flour
• dried moringa leaves, for dambou
• peanut paste, for kilishi and kunu

Find this selection in our West African grocery and our African cereals and grains section.

Frequently asked questions

What is dambou?

Dambou is a millet or rice couscous mixed with chopped moringa leaves, originating from the Zarma-Songhai of southwestern Niger. It is served plain or accompanied by grilled meat or fish, especially during festivities and weddings.

What is kilishi?

Kilishi is dried beef, coated with a spiced peanut paste before drying in the sun. This preservation technique is specific to the Hausa world, which extends from southern Niger to northern Nigeria.

Where to find Niger ingredients in France?

NKOSI brings together several ingredients useful for Niger cuisine (millet flour, dried moringa leaves, peanut paste) in its shop and ships them from the Paris area within 24 to 72 working hours, to mainland France (2 to 3 working days) and to ten European countries. The minimum order is 39 €: in France, delivery to a pickup point is then free, and home delivery is free from 69 €.