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The food and drink of Niger shares much with its neighbouring countries in the Sahel. This comes from the fact that Niger’s population is made up of ethnicities which cross modern borders together with the fact nearly all Nigeriens are Muslim. What can you expect from cuisine in Niger? There are plenty of carbohydrate staples to keep people fed, with a sauce or stew containing meat and vegetables served alongside, often loaded with spice.
Carbohydrate staples in Niger cuisine
The basis of most cuisine in Niger is the humble carbohydrate or starch. Potatoes and pasta are rare, but there is still plenty to choose between.
Rice is probably the most common carbohydrate, with millet also popular. Other carbohydrates which are commonly eaten include sorghum, cassava and plantain. When deep-fried, plantain is known as dodo in Niger, and gorgeous.
Although associated more closely with Nigeria than Niger, jollof rice is relatively easy to find. Exact recipes alter from person to person, and are the cause of much debate right across the region.
However, jollof is usually flavoured with tomatoes, onions, peppers, ginger, garlic and chili. These ingredients are cooked together in a single pot until the rice takes on a rich orange-red colouring.
The influence of Arab north Africa is demonstrated through the consumption of couscous. It’s generally enjoyed on festival days and for family celebrations.
Sauces and stews
To these relatively plain carbohydrates those who can afford to will add a sauce or stew. This can be as simple as a thick groundnut sauce made by grinding up peanuts.
Tomatoes, onions and spices including ginger are mixed into the resulting pulp to enliven the flavour profile.
The dish called dambou comes from southern Niger, where the dominate ethnicities are Zarma and Songhai.
It’s usually made from either rice flour or millet, which is steamed in a large pot for around 20 minutes. Leaves of the moringa (a locally-growing tree) or spinach are then added.
After this, onions, chopped chilies and a stock cube (usually a salty Maggie cube) are thrown in too.
Meats eaten in Niger
It’s relatively easy to remain vegetarian in Niger. Boiled eggs are a useful replacement to meats and fish.
However, most people will assume a visitor will want some sort of protein beyond beans and legumes, and meats are often used as a status symbol.
For example, during celebrations, dambou will be served with pre-cooked meats or dried freshwater fish from the river.
Beef is a favourite, alongside goat, camel meat and guinea fowl. Squeamish eaters should note meat will often be served as a chunk served on the bone. For example, tattabara comprises a whole flame-grilled butterfly pigeon.
One fascinating contrast to this is kilishi. It’s eaten mainly by Niger’s Hausa majority, who make up just over 50% of the population.
Made from beef, mutton or goat, kilishi is a form of dried meat. Although similar in texture to jerky or biltong, kilishi is kept in large sheets rather than cut into thin strips.
After being dried, it is marinated in spices and then roasted, traditionally over open fires.
Vegetables available in Niger
Although Niger has an extremely arid climate and is often affected by drought, agriculture still plays an important part in the country’s economy.
Crops such as millet, which can endure the tough conditions, are most frequently grown. By contrast, almost all the country’s rice has to be imported.
But farmers also grow fruits and vegetables such as onions, carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers. A basis for many dishes, they also make their way into salaat (salad).
Salaat is often served as an appetizer before a main dish, not unlike what happens in Egypt. It brightens many a plate with its mix of fresh vegetables. It can include everything from tomatoes to moringa leaves.
Common soups in Niger
Another mainstay of food and drink in Niger are soups. They range from light watery broths, such as pepper soup, containing vegetables and packing a real chili heat, to thicker soups.
Soups include palm nut soup, made from the fruit of the oil palm. A rich red colour and by nature relatively oily in texture, the recipe was likely brought to Niger with Hausa traders.
The fruit is crushed and ground in a mortar and pestle. It’s then flavoured with smoke-dried fish or marinated meats to create an intense dish often eaten with millet or sorghum.
Snacking in Niger
If there’s a country in the world which has no snack foods I’m yet to find it. And frankly don’t want too.
Snacks can be a great lead in to a nation’s cuisine, since they are by nature small, easy to find and cheap to buy.
In Niger, women selling snacks can be found on street corners, close to bus stations and in markets. Basically anywhere they might find a lot of hungry customers.
Peanuts sold in small cones of paper are probably the best for handling when out and about, alongside dates. But it’s the savoury doughballs or beignet that are my personal favourite.
Freshly fried throughout the day in vast vats of oil, they are drizzled with a little chili oil or similar. For those who don’t like chili heat, there’s millet porridge.
A wholly savoury version that’s not just for breakfast, it does a great job of filling stomachs and smoothly overheated taste buds.
Come evening, many Nigeriens turn instead to fari masa, a fried bread a little like a naan in texture and taste.
What do they drink in Niger?
There’s one drink that sits head and shoulders above all other drinks in Niger. And that’s tea. It’s served in the fashion of the Sahel region in small handle-less glass cups gripped by the upper rim.
Nigerien tea is made from black tea. It’s always drunk without milk, and with copious amounts of sugar added. A glass makes for a refreshing stop despite the heat.
In even modest towns it’s also usually possible to find at least a bottle of warm Coca-Cola. Though legal to purchase and consume, you shouldn’t expect to find any form of bottled beer or alcohols because they are forbidden under Islamic law.
What to eat in Niger
Summing up a nation’s entire cuisine is never easy. But cuisine in Niger can be largely defined by its use of staple starches enlivened by stews and sauces comprising vegetables, meat and fish.
