A simple, straightforward Malian hot sauce made with red chilies, garlic, and Kayes-style peanut oil, with an oily, red, spicy, slightly grainy texture.
Ingredients
- 80 g fresh, fully ripe red chilies
- 250 ml good-quality peanut oil, ideally Kayes-style
- 3 cloves fresh garlic
- 0.5 pieces yellow onion
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp fine salt
Method
- Wash the chilies, remove only the stems, and keep the seeds to preserve the traditional heat. Pat them thoroughly dry: they should feel dry to the touch to prevent splattering in the hot oil.
- Peel the garlic and onion. Chop them roughly, just enough to make grinding easier. The goal is not a smooth purée but a slightly rustic chili paste.
- Put the chilies, garlic, onion, salt, and vinegar in a mortar or small blender. Pound or pulse-blend until you have a moist, grainy red paste with no large visible pieces of garlic.
- Pour the peanut oil into a small heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over low heat. The oil should become fluid and glossy without smoking; if it smells strongly of frying, the heat is too high.
- Add the chili paste to the warm oil. Stir immediately with a wooden spoon: the sauce should simmer gently, never boil vigorously.
- Cook over low heat, stirring often, until the raw smell of the onion and garlic disappears, the oil turns deep red, and the chili paste settles slightly on the bottom of the saucepan.
- Turn off the heat and let the sauce settle in the saucepan. The surface should be red and glossy, with visible chili pulp: this slight separation between oil and sediment gives it its authentic texture.
- Taste a small dab of cooled sauce. Adjust with a little salt if needed; the sauce should be distinctly salty, fiery, and aromatic because it is served in small amounts.
- Pour into a clean, dry jar while the sauce is still hot. Cover the surface with the red oil from the saucepan to protect the chili pulp.
- Let it rest before serving so the chili, garlic, and oil mellow together. Stir the jar before use for a thicker sauce, or spoon only the red oil from the surface for a milder dose.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 189.9 kcal
- Protein
- 0.45 g
- Carbohydrate
- 2.38 g
- Fat
- 20.08 g
- Fibre
- 0.72 g
- Calcium
- 4.46 mg
- Iron
- 0.28 mg
- Magnesium
- 6.29 mg
