Dry lalo is a powder of dried, ground baobab leaves. Like the green lalo from the same brand, it is a traditional Senegalese binder: on contact with water, it becomes slightly sticky and is used to thicken sauces and millet couscous. 100 g bag, NUMBER ONE brand.
What is lalo?
Lalo, or laalo in Wolof, refers to the powder of dried and pounded baobab (Adansonia digitata) leaves. On contact with water, it becomes mucilaginous, a bit like okra, and coats the millet grains to stop them from drying out. So it is not a spice that flavours, it is a binder that thickens. NUMBER ONE offers several versions, including this "dry" lalo and ground green lalo: the same baobab leaf, the colour varying according to drying.
Do not confuse it with the baobab powder diluted for bouye juice: that one comes from the fruit pulp, the monkey bread, and has neither the same taste nor the same use as the leaf.
How to use it?
Dilute one to two tablespoons of lalo in a little warm water or broth until you get a kind of gel, then stir this gel in at the end of cooking to the sauce or to millet couscous already steamed, stirring gently. Never sprinkle it dry directly onto a hot dish: the powder suddenly swells and forms lumps. Lalo also binds sauces served with millet, sorghum, maize or rice.
What to pair it with?
With thiéré lalo TANTIE, a millet couscous already ready to take on this binder, or a plain thiéré to bind yourself. NUMBER ONE ground green lalo to compare the two versions. The lalo sauce recipe and the Nigerien dambou recipe, a millet semolina with baobab leaves, are on the blog. The whole range: African and Caribbean spices and condiments.
Product information
- Brand: NUMBER ONE
- Capacity: 100 g bag
- Ingredient: dried, ground baobab leaves
- Allergens: none of the 14 regulated allergens by nature
- Preparation: dilute in a little water before stirring in, never dry
- Storage: in an airtight jar, away from moisture and light
