African Food Network: Authentic recipes from across the continent.

Danwake Assorted

couldnt get ready-made danwake flour here in birmingham so i had to mix cowpea flour and a bit of cassava flour. squeezing that fresh lemon juice over the warm dumplings and sliced eggs brought back pure nostalgia sha. e sweet well well.

Reviewed by Zainab Yusuf · Birmingham, UK

Placali

Cassava reached West Africa through Portuguese Atlantic trade routes from South America in the 16th century and became a staple crop of Côte d'Ivoire, where it is processed into attiéké, gari, tapioca and the fermented paste eaten as placali. The dish is also eaten in Togo as agbelima koumè.

Thieboudienne

Pounding the parsley and garlic in the mortar felt so much like making a green masala paste for Gujarati stuffed fish. The way the chopped onions and tomato paste build up that rich base in the peanut oil is basically making a bhuna base. Took a bit longer than 15 mins to get the tomatoes fried down properly, but the flavour inside the grouper was wonderful.

Reviewed by Priya Raman · Leicester, UK

Miyan Kuka (Baobab Leaves Soup)

My mother always insisted on plain meat stock before adding ginger and dried pepper, so frying the onions and garlic first was new for me. E sweet sha! The dawadawa gave it that authentic deep flavor. Will cook it like this again o.

Reviewed by Blessing Ekanem · Uyo, Nigeria

Peppered Snail: Spicy Nigerian Finger Food

Getting live giant land snails here in the UK is almost impossible so I had to use the frozen ones from the Afro-Caribbean shop. Was worried they would still be slimy but rubbing them thoroughly with the lemon juice cleared all the slime before boiling. The three scotch bonnets gave it that proper Lagos heat, e sweet die sha!

Reviewed by Chidera Eze · UK

Palmnut Soup (Abenkwan)

Herh, abenkwan without momoni? I managed to find salted pig feet and canned palm nut concentrate at Kirkgate market in Leeds so that saved me paa. My grandma always taught us to beat the warm water into the pulp slowly till you get that smooth creamy texture. Made this on Sunday with smoked fish and fresh crab, chale the aroma filled my whole flat.

Reviewed by Naa Adjeley · Leeds, UK

Nigerian Pancake (Diet)

Made these for Suhoor early this morning since we needed something fast before the fast started. That combination of nutmeg, sugar and ground chilli pepper is quite unique. You really have to get the batter very runny like you mentioned or they turn out too thick in the pan.

Reviewed by Yusuf Ebrahim · Bo-Kaap, Cape Town, South Africa

Rwandan Banana Beignets

my bananas were almost black on the counter so i mashed them into this batter instead of throwing them away. taste sweet die! only thing is i didnt have regular milk so i used evaporated milk i bought from the international shop and added a drop extra vanilla. soft inside, e sweet o

Reviewed by Uche Anyanwu · USA