COPPERDambou recipe
A steamed millet couscous worked by hand with boiled moringa leaves until the whole grain turns green, eaten at namings and weddings by the Zarma and Songhai.
Ingredients
- 300 g moringa leaves
- 400 g millet couscous
- 100 g groundnuts
- 1 onion
- 45 ml vegetable oil
- 2 stock cube
- 1 chili pepper
- 5 g salt
How to make Dambou
- Strip 300 g of moringa leaves from their stems, rinse them and boil them 5 minutes in salted water, then drain: the leaves, not the grain, are what make dambou.
- Moisten 400 g of millet couscous with a little water and rub it between your palms so the grains separate.
- Steam the couscous 20 minutes in a couscoussier over boiling water.
- Toast 100 g of groundnuts in a dry pan, then crush them coarsely.
- Chop 1 onion and 1 chili pepper and fry them in 45 ml of oil with 2 crumbled stock cubes.
- Tip the drained moringa leaves into the steamed couscous and mix with your hands until the grain is green all through.
- Add the fried onion, the crushed groundnuts and 5 g of salt, steam 10 minutes more and serve hot.
What is Dambou?
Dambou is a traditional dish from Niger, cooked in a pan, and takes about 45 minutes from start to finish. It is built around millet couscous, moringa leaves and groundnuts. The recipe below uses 8 ingredients and is written out step by step.
How long does Dambou take?
At 45 minutes it is quicker than 87% of the 586 dishes in Copper's atlas. The method runs to 7 steps, the longest being 20 minutes.
Any tips for making Dambou?
Rub the moistened couscous between your palms so the grains separate, then mix in the boiled moringa by hand until the grain is green all through.
How Dambou compares
Hard to find elsewhere: moringa leaves (1), millet couscous (1) and groundnuts (3).
Cooked with the same thing elsewhere
Other traditional dishes built on groundnuts, from other countries.
Copper documents Niger alongside 197 other countries. Every recipe is free to read, with the full ingredient list and every step.