Ghanaian Chale Sauce
Aperçu
This is a blended tomato, onion and chilli sauce in the West African style, cooked down in oil and finished with a spice blend, and it is presented here as it appeared in the source archive. It is used as a dip for fried plantain and grilled meat and as a marinade for chicken or fish. The name needs care. Chale is Ghanaian pidgin, an address between friends roughly equivalent to mate or bro, and it appears in Ghanaian food naming most familiarly in chale wote, the flip flop sandal that gives its name to the Accra street art festival. It is not, on the available record, an established name for a documented Ghanaian sauce, and this may be a contemporary or house name rather than a traditional one. Ghana's documented pepper sauces are shito, the dark fermented sauce of dried fish, prawn and pepper, and the fresh pepper sauces made with tomato, onion and chilli that accompany kelewele and grilled tilapia. This recipe sits closer to the second group, though the nutmeg and curry powder in its spice list are not characteristic of either. It is included as found, and flagged so the naming can be checked before it goes live.
Ingrédients
Les mentions alimentaires sont fournies par les contributeurs à titre indicatif. Elles ne sont pas vérifiées par AFN et dépendent des produits que vous achetez. En cas d’allergie grave, vérifiez vous-même chaque ingrédient. Cuisine, allergies et votre propre jugement
Préparation
- 1
Combine the chopped onions, minced garlic, chopped tomatoes and hot chilli peppers in a blender or food processor. Blend to a smooth paste.
- 2
Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
- 3
Add the blended mixture and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 to 15 minutes until it has reduced and deepened in colour.
- 4
Mix in the tomato paste and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- 5
Add the ground ginger, nutmeg, coriander, cayenne, paprika, dried thyme and curry powder. Stir well and let the spices bloom in the heat for a couple of minutes.
- 6
Pour in the water and bring to a gentle simmer.
- 7
Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and the flavours come together.
- 8
Season with salt and pepper to taste and remove from the heat.
Notes de l’Africook
Notes personnelles de Laila Yetunde- Reduce the blended base properly before the spices go in. Undercooked tomato and onion tastes raw and sharp, and the ten to fifteen minutes is a minimum rather than a target.
- Add the ground spices to hot oil and give them a couple of minutes before the water. Blooming them makes a real difference and is the step most often rushed.
- Go easy on the nutmeg. A full teaspoon is a lot in a savoury sauce and it dominates if the sauce reduces further.
- It thickens as it cools, so stop reducing a little before it looks right.
- Stored in a sterilised jar under a film of oil it keeps two weeks refrigerated, and it freezes well in portions.
Questions fréquentes
What does chale mean?
Chale is Ghanaian pidgin, used to address a friend, roughly equivalent to mate or bro. It is best known outside Ghana through chale wote, the flip flop sandal that gives its name to the Accra street art festival. As a sauce name it is not established in the documented record, and it may be a house or contemporary name rather than a traditional one.
How is this different from shito?
Considerably. Shito is Ghana's dark, deeply savoury pepper sauce built on dried fish, ground prawn and dried pepper cooked long in oil, and it keeps for months. This is a fresh sauce of blended tomato, onion and chilli, closer to the pepper sauces served with kelewele and grilled tilapia. They are not substitutes for one another.
What is it used for?
As a dipping sauce for fried plantain and grilled meats, and as a marinade for chicken or fish. It is versatile in the way most West African pepper sauces are, and a spoonful stirred into rice or beans works well. It is a condiment rather than a dish.
How hot is it and can I reduce the heat?
It carries three to four fresh chillies plus a teaspoon of cayenne, which is hot but not extreme. Reduce or deseed the fresh chillies to bring it down, and cut the cayenne if you want it milder still. The tomato and onion base is good on its own terms, so a milder version is a legitimate choice rather than a compromise.
Avis
10 avis
Vous Aimerez Aussi
Voir toutes les recettes Ghana →
Easy and Simple Way to Make Banku
Garden Egg Stew (Earthenware Bowl Method)
Kontomire Stew
Made this over the weekend to serve over grilled chicken and rice. I was a little skeptical about blending raw onions and peppers together before frying, but reducing it down for 15 minutes really cooked off that sharp bite. The aroma when you add the nutmeg and thyme to the hot oil is incredible. Question though: how hot are the chilli peppers supposed to be traditionally? I used 3 habaneros and it definitely had a kick!
Brian, three habaneros is actually on the mild side o! Traditionally we use Scotch bonnets, or kpakpo shito in Ghana, and four or five is standard for that dish. When I buy bonnets here in Peckham market, some batches have serious heat, no be small thing. You were very right to let that blended onion and pepper fry down for 15 minutes sha, because if you do not cook off all the water, the raw onion taste will ruin it. Glad you enjoyed the aroma with your chicken and rice, e sweet well well!
Herh, adding ground nutmeg to chale sauce is the exact secret my aunty taught me in Accra! I couldn't get good plum tomatoes here in Tottenham this week so I used tinned ones from Tesco and just let it reduce longer than 15 mins. Still turned out so rich and deep. Ate it with fried yam last night, sweet paa!
I'm completely new to West African food, but I saw your note about nutmeg and threw a pinch in when I made this for my family last night. It really added a great warmth! I had to use canned tomatoes and simmer it extra long too, and the flavor was amazing over roasted chicken. I'm curious about the fried yam you mentioned, is there a specific kind of yam I should look for at an international grocery store?
Abeg this sauce is very similar to our local fried pepper stew o! The nutmeg gave it a distinct flavor sha, I was not sure at first but e sweet. Spent about 20 mins frying the tomato paste mixture so the sourness was completely gone. Woolwich market Scotch bonnets made it properly spicy. Good recipe.
Chale, you got the tomato paste part right oo! If you don't fry it well-well, that sourness will ruin everything. You are lucky getting Woolwich market peppers, over here in Columbus I have to manage habaneros from the Mexican shop. But herh, that nutmeg touch is pure Ghanaian style paa, my grandmother from Accra always put a small pinch in her stew.
chale the smell when the spices bloomed in the oil took me straight back home. finding good hot peppers in the bronx can be tricky in winter so I grabbed red habaneros from 161st market. I added extra curry powder because we like it strong. my husband ate the whole pot with boiled eggs and rice oo!
Chale, the rice and boiled egg combination is correct oo! But herh, extra curry powder in Chale sauce? That one is a modern shortcut paa, my grandmother in Ga Mashie will frown small. Still, using habanero to beat the Bronx winter was a clever move.
This is a solid base sauce but herh, 1 teaspoon of ginger is too small for us here in Tamale! We love ginger and chilli paa. I doubled the fresh ginger and let the tomato paste cook till the red oil separated on top. Served it with fried tilapia for dinner, everyone enjoyed it.
Rashida, you are so right! Supermarket ginger here in London is not even sharp like the ones back home, so doubling it is a must sha. That step of letting the tomato paste cook until the red oil separates is key o, no shortcuts. I couldn't get good fresh tilapia in Thamesmead today so I used fried croaker instead, but the sauce was so nice!