Dan Wake

Hausa cowpea-flour dumplings, stiffened with baobab-leaf powder, boiled, and dressed with oil, raw onion, and the peppery groundnut spice yaji

Origin: Kano, Zaria & Hausaland

From the journey of Cowpea.

Dan wake means 'son of beans', and the beans are cowpeas, which Hausa calls wake. It is a dish of the Hausa-speaking country of northern Nigeria and southern Niger, where it is said to have originated, and it is sold at street stalls and cooked at home as a cheap and filling midday meal. The dough is cowpea flour mixed with kuka, the powdered dried leaf of the baobab tree, and a little potash dissolved in water; the kuka turns the dough greenish grey and gives it body, and the potash makes the dumplings firm and slippery. Pinched into small pieces and dropped into boiling water, they cook until they float. On their own they taste of very little, and they are not meant to be eaten on their own. They are drained, piled on a plate, and dressed with groundnut oil, raw sliced onion, and a heavy dusting of yaji, the northern spice blend of dried chilli, ginger, and roasted groundnut, often with sliced tomato, shredded cabbage, and a boiled egg alongside. The cowpea has been grown in this country for a very long time. Excavations at sites of the Nok culture in central Nigeria, the people of the terracotta heads, found cowpeas second only to pearl millet among their crops, from the first millennium BCE and before.

Ingredients

Dumplings

250 g cowpea flour (black-eyed bean flour)
3 tbsp kuka (baobab leaf powder)
0.5 tsp kanwa (potash), crushed
0.5 tsp salt
300 ml warm water, approximately

To Serve

6 tbsp groundnut oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp yaji (suya spice)
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 handful shredded cabbage
4 boiled eggs, halved (optional)

Method

Stir the crushed kanwa into the warm water and leave it to settle for 5 minutes, then pour off the clear liquid and discard the sediment.
Mix the cowpea flour, kuka, and salt in a bowl. Add the potash water gradually, mixing with your hand, until you have a soft, thick, slightly sticky dough that holds its shape. Knead it for 2 to 3 minutes.
Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil.
With wet hands, pinch off pieces of dough the size of a walnut, roll them roughly, and drop them into the boiling water. Work in batches so that the pan does not stop boiling.
Boil for 10 to 15 minutes, until the dumplings float and feel firm. Cut one open to check that there is no raw flour in the middle.
Lift them out into a bowl of cold water for a minute, which stops them sticking together, then drain.
Pile the dumplings on plates and dress them with the oil, the sliced onion, and a generous dusting of yaji. Serve with tomato, cabbage, and boiled eggs.

Notes

Buy baobab leaf powder, which is green, not the pale baobab fruit powder sold as a health food. Kuka and kanwa are both sold in African grocers. Yaji can be bought ready-made as suya spice, or made by pounding dried chilli, ground ginger, a little stock cube, and roasted groundnuts or kuli-kuli together.

The Gastrographer

Name: Dan Wake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Zaria & Hausaland
Ingredients: 250 g cowpea flour (black-eyed bean flour); 3 tbsp kuka (baobab leaf powder); 0.5 tsp kanwa (potash), crushed; 0.5 tsp salt; 300 ml warm water, approximately; 6 tbsp groundnut oil; 1 onion, thinly sliced; 2 tbsp yaji (suya spice); 2 tomatoes, sliced; 1 handful shredded cabbage; 4 boiled eggs, halved (optional)

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control