Miyan Ridi

Northern Nigeria's draw soup of toasted sesame: beniseed roasted dark and ground to a paste, simmered with palm oil, dried fish, locust bean, and chilli into a rich, faintly bitter, deeply nutty stew thickened with a little ground okra and yakuwa greens, ladled over a mound of tuwo to be eaten with the hand

Origin: Hausaland, Northern Nigeria

From the journey of Sesame.

Miyan ridi is a soup of the Hausa kitchen of northern Nigeria, ridi being the Hausa word for sesame, here grown across the dry savannah as the oil crop the British called beniseed. It belongs to the family of miyan, the rich soups eaten with tuwo (the stiff porridge of pounded grain) that are the heart of the Hausa main meal. The sesame is toasted dark and ground to a paste that gives the soup its body, its colour, and its characteristic warm, nutty, gently bitter depth, the same toasted-seed richness that the seed lends to dishes from the tahini of the Levant to the goma of Japan, here turned to a savoury stew. Like much Hausa cooking it is built on the local pantry of palm oil, dried and smoked fish, daddawa (fermented locust bean), and the leafy greens of the season, with sesame as the defining flavour. Sesame in West Africa is also a plant of good fortune, the same belief that crossed the Atlantic with the seed to become the 'goodwill' benne of the American South.

Ingredients

  • 150 g sesame seeds (beniseed)
  • 3 tbsp red palm oil
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 2 tomatoes, blended
  • 2 scotch bonnet or other hot chillies, blended (to taste)
  • 1 tbsp daddawa (fermented locust bean), or 1 stock cube
  • 200 g assorted meat (beef or goat), cut into pieces
  • 100 g smoked or dried fish, cleaned and flaked
  • 2 tbsp ground dried okra (kubewa), to thicken
  • 1 large bunch yakuwa (sorrel) or spinach leaves, shredded
  • 800 ml meat stock or water
  • 1 tsp salt, or to taste

Method

  1. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 4 to 5 minutes until deep golden brown and strongly fragrant. Cool a little, then grind to a thick, oily paste in a blender or grinder, adding a splash of water to help it move.
  2. Season and boil the meat with half the onion, a little salt, and a ladle of the stock until tender, then reserve the meat and its liquor.
  3. Heat the palm oil in a large pot over medium heat until melted and fluid. Add the remaining onion and fry until soft, then add the blended tomato and chilli and cook down for 8 to 10 minutes until thick and the raw smell has gone.
  4. Stir in the daddawa (or stock cube), the cooked meat, and the flaked fish, then pour in the stock and the reserved meat liquor and bring to a simmer.
  5. Whisk the ground sesame paste into the simmering soup until smooth, then sprinkle in the ground okra to thicken. Simmer gently for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the soup is rich, thickened, and the sesame is cooked through.
  6. Stir in the shredded greens and cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes until wilted and tender. Taste and adjust the salt and heat. Serve hot, ladled over or beside a mound of tuwo (or pounded yam, rice, or fufu), eaten with the hand.

Notes

Miyan ridi varies from household to household across Hausaland: some cooks add a handful of ground egusi or peanut alongside the sesame, others keep it purely beniseed. Daddawa (fermented African locust bean) gives the authentic savoury backbone and is worth seeking from an African grocer, though a stock cube is the common shortcut. Yakuwa (sorrel leaves) bring a pleasant sourness; spinach or any robust green will stand in. The soup is traditionally eaten with tuwo shinkafa (rice) or tuwo masara (maize), the stiff swallows of the northern Nigerian table.

The Gastrographer

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Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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