- 1 hour
- Prep 20 minutes
- Cook 40 minutes
- Serves 4
Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.
Ingredients
- 60g roasted unsalted peanuts
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon garlic granules
- 1 teaspoon onion granules
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or half for a milder tray
- 1 and a half teaspoons salt
- 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 800g)
- 3 tablespoons (45ml) vegetable oil
- 2 medium sweet potatoes (about 600g), cut into 3cm chunks
- 2 red bell peppers, cut into chunks
- 2 red onions: 1 cut into wedges, 1 thinly sliced for the salad
- To serve: 3 ripe tomatoes, sliced
- To serve: a quarter of a white cabbage (about 200g), finely shredded
- To serve: 1 lime, cut into wedges
Let's cook
- Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan).
- Make the suya spice. Grind the peanuts in a blender or spice grinder in short bursts to a fine powder; stop before it turns into peanut butter. Mix with the paprika, ginger, garlic, onion granules, cayenne and salt. Set aside 2 tablespoons for sprinkling at the end.
- Put the chicken in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of the oil and the rest of the suya spice. Rub it in well, then wash your hands.
- Toss the sweet potato, peppers and onion wedges with the last tablespoon of oil on a large roasting tray. Roast for 15 minutes.
- Push the vegetables to the sides and lay the chicken in the middle. Roast for 25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through, with no pink inside and clear juices, and the vegetables are soft and charred at the edges.
- While it roasts, make the salad: arrange the sliced red onion, tomatoes and cabbage on a plate. This cool, crunchy salad is how suya is eaten in Nigeria.
- Sprinkle the saved suya spice over the hot chicken. Serve with the salad and lime wedges.
Tips
- Chicken is cooked when the thickest piece reaches 75C on a food thermometer.
- Ready-made suya spice is called yaji and is sold in African shops, but homemade tastes fresher.
- Leftover suya spice keeps in a jar for 2 weeks and is lovely on roast vegetables.
Swaps
- Peanut allergy: leave out the peanuts and use the spice mix alone; it is less nutty but still good.
- Beef suya: thread thin slices of rump steak onto soaked wooden skewers, coat in the spice and grill for 3 to 4 minutes on each side.
- Milder for children: use a quarter of a teaspoon of cayenne.
Tags
In Feed the family.
Contains: Peanuts .
Peanuts are the only one of the 14 allergens in this recipe, in the suya spice. If you buy ready-made suya spice (yaji) instead, check the packet for other allergens.
Check every packet for allergens.