In My Kitchen: Make Your Own Suya

A couple of weeks back, Mr E was having crazing for Suya and we were about to make a journey into London to go and find some. I asked for some feedback on a place I had heard about {Facebook is great for this} and the general consensus was that it wasn't all that great.

For the people who had tried Suya in Nigeria {us included} they really didn't rate the place, so rather than us go all the way to the place and be disappointed, I decided to find a recipe to adapt and figure this thing out. Surely it can't be that hard!!!

The great thing is for those of you who would like to make your own Suya, it is so easy to do.

Below I have put down the steps I used and it turned out really good.

Ingredients:

Meat {preferably beef}. I used beef strips which I normally use for stir fry. They were already pre-cut into the right size. You can use any

For the marinade:

• 3 teaspoons of finely ground roasted peanuts {I was surprised about this but it is an essential ingredient unless you're allergic to peanuts! I used ground nut we brought back from Nigeria.}

• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper or red pepper, or red pepper flakes

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• 1 teaspoon salt

• ½ teaspoon garlic powder

• ½ teaspoon black pepper*

• ½ teaspoon jerk seasoning*

• 1 teaspoon chilli power*

*my personal preference – you do not need to include.

Above is the ratio of spices I used. I had to make some more as it wasn't enough to coat all the meat I had and you need some of the spices left to sprinkle on the Suya once its cooked.

Steps:

1. Grind the peanuts. You can use a rolling pin or food processor. Try not to grind it too much other wise you will end up with a peanut paste which is not what you want. If you find the peanut to be too oily, place between kitchen towel paper to absorb the excess oil.

2. Mix in the other spices with the peanut powder.

3. Take your meat and dip and roll in the peanut-spice mix, making sure the meat is completely coated.

4. Allow meat to marinate for thirty minutes or more.

5. At this stage depending on the size of the meat you can place them on skewers. I didn't have any so just cooked the meat on an oven tray at 400 degrees for 20-30 mins. Remember to pre-heat the oven. You can also cook the meat on a barbeque if you prefer.

6. Once cooked, chop one onion {red is better} and sprinkle on top.

7. Serve and Enjoy!

Have a go and feel free to add other spices that you like to tailor the taste. {If you want it more spicy add more cayenne pepper, less so substitute with paprika.}

Let me know how you get on!