Nigerian Peanut Butter

Ose Oji or Okwu Oji are all names of Nigerian peanut butter. What makes this peanut butter Nigerian? The spices used in the paste. If you do not like spicy food, I suggest you stay away from the Nigerian version of peanut butter. However, if you are a spice lover like me, welcome to the tastiest peanut butter you would have.

Nigerian peanut butter is eaten with the little green garden eggs. It can also be eaten with cucumbers or bread or whatever else you like to use to eat peanut butter. I would recommend it as a great marinade base for your fish, chicken or beef when grilling. It brings a new dimension of flavor to your grilled dish.

The spices used in making the peanut butter are not as easily accessible as separate entities outside Nigeria. Some African stores are thorough and have them but some others do not. A good substitute would be a pepper soup spice mix. Although this would contain more ingredients than required, it doesn’t give a bad flavor. You can always adjust the spice level to your tolerance. Instead of adding 2 tablespoons, you can reduce it to one teaspoon of the blended spices so it adds a hint of the spice. Let us know in the comments if you would be trying this recipe or have tried it.

Nigerian Peanut Butter Recipe

Ingredients

1 Cup of Roasted peanuts

2 pieces of African nutmeg (Ehuru)

3 pieces of dried prawns

1/2 teaspoon of Uziza seeds (Black peppercorns)

1 teaspoon of chili powder (dry pepper)

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

Method

Roast the african nutmeg on open fire till blackened.

Mill the african nutmeg, dried prawns, chili powder and uziza seeds.

Slowly add in the peanuts and blend with the spices one handful at a time.

Add one tablespoon of oil intermittently as you blend till all ingredients are in the blender and smooth.

Serve with garden eggs, cucumbers or bread.