Sudanese street skewers of beef, lamb, or chicken rolled in a crust of ground peanuts, chili, and spices before and after grilling, a technique carried across the Sahel and closely related to suya. Vendors serve it off the skewer with raw onion, lime, and extra peanut-chili dust.
Also known as Sudanese peanut skewers, Sudanese kebab.
Reference video
Ingredients
- 600 g beef fillet or sirloin, in thin 1 cm strips
- 100 g roasted peanuts, coarsely crushed (not fine peanut flour)
- 1 tbsp shatta (hot chili powder)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom or cinnamon
- 1 stock cube, crushed
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 lime, in wedges
- 1 small onion, in rings
How to make it
- 1
Ribbon the beef strips onto skewers in a wave pattern and brush them lightly with oil.
- 2
Combine the crushed peanuts, shatta, garlic powder, coriander, cardamom and stock cube; roll each skewer through three-quarters of the mix, pressing so it cakes on.
- 3
Grill over medium — never fierce — coals 8-10 minutes, turning gently with tongs to protect the crust.
- 4
Dust with the reserved spice mix straight off the fire and serve with lime and raw onion.
Pro tip: Khartoum vendors coat twice: before the fire for the toasted crust, after for the raw peanut kick — skip the second pass and you lose half the dish.
Where Agashe comes from
The technique travelled east across the Sahel from Hausa northern Nigeria, and in Chad and eastern Niger the trade operates under the same name.
It is sold from small charcoal grills in Khartoum and Omdurman in the evening, and the spice mix — the same principle as yaji, adapted to Sudanese taste — leans slightly less hot and slightly more aromatic. It is the eastern terminus of a food that crossed a continent on trading routes.
Agashe: Sudan's coarse-crusted branch of the suya family
Agashe is what the Hausa skewer became in Sudan. Like tsire, it is beef ribbon waved onto a skewer, but the peanuts are coarsely crushed rather than ground to flour, and the spice brings shatta, coriander and a little cardamom or cinnamon. The crust is pressed on so thickly that the grill stays at medium, 8 to 10 minutes, turned gently with tongs. Nigerian suya uses a finer yaji with ginger and cayenne and takes hotter coals for 3 to 4 minutes a side, and Ghana's kyinkyinga puts its tankora on in two coats, before and after grilling.
Compare: Tsire · Suya · Kyinkyinga
How Agashe is cooked
Double coating, as everywhere in this family: one before the fire that toasts into a crust, one after that stays raw and pungent. What Sudan does differently is grind the peanut a little coarser, so the crust has a more granular texture than Nigerian suya's fine powder.
The meat is cut into strips or thin cubes and threaded onto skewers, oiled, coated and grilled over moderate charcoal. Peanut burns quickly, so a Sudanese vendor keeps the coals modest and turns constantly.
Ingredients and shopping
Beef, lamb or chicken, in strips or two-centimetre cubes. Roasted peanuts ground coarse, or kuli-kuli if available. Shatta (hot chilli powder), garlic powder, ground coriander and a crushed stock cube for the salt.
Sudanese versions often include a little ground cardamom or cinnamon, which is the aromatic note distinguishing agashe from Nigerian yaji. Groundnut oil for brushing. Raw onion, lime wedges and extra peanut-chilli dust for serving.
How Agashe is served
Off the skewer with raw onion, lime and a heap of extra peanut-chilli dust, from an evening street grill. Bread on the side. It is a snack and a social food rather than a meal, ordered several sticks at a time.
Common mistakes
Grinding the peanut too fine
Sudanese agashe has a coarser, more granular crust than Nigerian suya. Grind it roughly.
A hot fire
Peanut coating burns fast. Moderate coals and constant turning.
Skipping the second coat
As in suya, the post-grill dusting supplies the aromatic pungency. One coat only is muted.
Omitting the warm spice
A little cardamom or cinnamon is the Sudanese marker and it is what separates agashe from yaji.
Agashe: questions and answers
Is agashe the same as suya?
It is the same technique and family, carried east across the Sahel. Sudanese agashe grinds the peanut coarser and adds warm spice such as cardamom or cinnamon.
Why coat it twice?
The first coat toasts into a crust on the fire; the second goes on after and stays raw and aromatic.
Where is it eaten?
Khartoum and Omdurman street grills in the evening, and across into Chad and eastern Niger under the same name.
Sources and further reading
- Suya — Wikipedia
- Egypt's Sudanese refugees using rich cuisine to build new lives — Malay Mail
- Kebabs in a Circle — Frontline Club
