Hausa Market · Sun-Dried Jerky
Kilishi (Spiced Meat Jerky)
Photo: Akinrinade Habeeb Omobolaji / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
It's dried twice: plain sheets of meat are sun-dried first, then coated in the spiced groundnut paste, dried again and finished over a fire, which is why it keeps for months.
Kilishi is thin sheets of beef, sun-dried, then coated in a paste of groundnut, spices and onion, dried again and briefly roasted over a fire until firm and chewy. Kano market vendors stack it in ready-to-eat sheets that need no refrigeration.
Why it's made this way: Its long shelf life made it a valuable trade good for Hausa traders moving across the Sahel long before refrigeration existed, and it remains a signature export from Nigeria's north.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3443 dishes from 118 countries.
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