Dambu Nama

In this post, I have no interesting story as to why I decided to make Dambu Nama. I just had a craving for it and went into my kitchen and whipped this up. Did not take as much time as I thought it would which was good but I lacked a somewhat important tool in the process. A mortar! I decided to improvise by using my rolling pin to pound the beef and I also experimented by shredding it in the food processor. I have to say the pounding gives it a different texture that the food processor wont. If you have a mortar at home, go for it, if not you can manage with hitting the beef with a rolling pin on your chopping board. This appetizer is a favourite amongst the Hausa people in Nigeria. I took Hausa in secondary school as a language to study but I sadly remember very little. I will say that I know Nama means meat so if someone can help me with what Dambu means. While making this, I was wondering how this would be made traditionally. I bet they at some point sun-dry the beef as I heard they do the same with kilishi. If any of my followers are from the North, please enlighten the rest of us in the comment section about how it is traditionally prepared. For the Afrolems home-made version, please see recipe below.

Recipe for Dambu Nama

Ingredients (Serves 2 people)

1/2 pound of beef

2 seasoning cubes

1 teaspoon of pepper

Pinch of Salt

Handful of chopped onions

1/2 teaspoon of chopped ginger

1 clove of garlic

1 tablespoon of Suya Spice (Yaji)

1 tablespoon of groundnut oil

Method

Wash your beef and chop off the fatty parts of the meat.

In a pot, boil the meat with salt, pepper, onions, ginger, garlic and 1 seasoning cube.

Boil the beef till the water dries out and in a mortar, pour your meat and pound.

If you do not have a mortar, pound the meat with your rolling pin on the chopping board.

Mix the beef with the suya spice and another seasoning cube in a bowl and set aside.

In a pan, heat up the oil but don’t let it be too hot. Shallow fry the beef and strain the excess oil on a paper towel and serve.