kunun gyada is a thin free-flowing gruel made with groundnuts. It has a perfect balance of sweet and slightly sour taste, the sour taste comes from the tamarind or lemon juice added. It is a northern Nigerian staple similar to pap (ogi, akamu) made with cereals. Non-alcoholic drinks from the north are called kunun, each named after the key ingredient used in making it, kunun Zaki made with millet, kunun tsamiya made with tamarind, Kunun Aya made with Tiger nuts etc.
kunun gyada is consumed by both kids and adults, it is an excellent weaning food for babies and very good for convalescence. It is important during Ramadan and is also generally served to visitors. You can make it thick to drink as a gruel (porridge), served with akara (kosai) or make it thin and served as a drink like drinking yoghurt.
I learnt how to make kunun gyada from my daughter’s friend Mary who learnt it from her mother. She also taught me her shortcut method of using store-bought peanut butter (see notes below). She loves kunun gyada so much and makes it regularly. I, in turn, taught her how to make one of my simple abacha dishes (African salad).
Specie of Peanut
kunun gyada is best made from peanuts with low oil content. I got the particular species my northern ‘customer‘ in the market said is the best. It is sweet with low oil content. It is not very common so use what is readily available to you. You can use both raw or roasted peanuts.
Different cereals can be added to the groundnuts, maize, rice, millet, sorghum etc but rice being available everywhere is very popular. The rice used is starchy short-grained rice, the type used in making tuwo shinkafa.
I don’t bother removing the skin of my groundnuts since I feel it adds more flavour and colour to my kunun.
To make kunun gyada
1 cup raw or roasted peanuts 1/2 cup short grain rice 3 tablespoons sugar tamarind or lemon juice
Wash and grind the peanut into a paste.
Place in a bowl and add enough water to thin it down to be as light as melted ice cream.
Using your clean hand or balloon whisk, mix the groundnut paste into the water.
Line a clean pot with a chiffon cloth and pour your groundnut milk through it to strain out any solid bits.
Rinse rice but do not wash off the starch.
Add rice to groundnut milk and place pot over medium heat.
When it starts heating up, stir with a wooden or plastic spoon so that the rice does not stick to the bottom of the pot. Don’t cover the pot and don’t leave it unattended.
The kunun gyada will boil and foam. Once the foam is only on the sides and the middle is clear, your kunun gyada is ready. It would have thickened by now.
Take off the heat and add tamarind (tsamiya) juice or lemon juice.
To serve, add sugar to taste.
How to make kunun gyada using peanut butter
Scoop out some peanut butter from the jar, avoiding the oil on top. Place in a bowl and add some water.
Using your hand or balloon whisk, mix to dissolve the butter.
When you have a smooth watery mixture, sieve with a chiffon cloth into a pot, add rice and cook your kunun gyada.
Serve with masa (rice cake), moi-moi, akara (Kosai), okpa etc.
Notes
- Do not leave your kunun gyada unattended, the rice will burn.
- Do not add the sugar to the pot of kunun gyada if you won’t finish it immediately. It will become runny, watery.
If you enjoyed my Kunun Gyada, you will also enjoy my Kunun Aya (Tiger nut drink) and Kunun Aya deluxe (Tiger nut-sugarcane drink).
Kunun gyada
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw or roasted peanuts
- ½ cup short grain rice
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- tamarind or lemon juice
Instructions
- Wash and grind the peanut into a paste.
- Place in a bowl and add enough water to thin it down to be as light as melted ice cream.
- Using your clean hand or balloon whisk mix the groundnut paste into the water.
- Line a clean pot with a chiffon cloth and pour your groundnut milk through it to strain out any solid bits.
- Rinse rice but do not wash off the starch.
- Add rice to groundnut milk and place pot over medium heat.
- When it starts heating up, stir with a wooden or plastic spoon so that the rice does not stick to the bottom of the pot. Don't cover the pot and don't leave it unattended.
- The kunun gyada will boil and foam. Once the foam is only on the sides and the middle is clear, your kunun gyada is ready. It would have thickened by now.
- Take off the heat and add tamarind (tsamiya) juice or lemon juice.
- To serve, add sugar to taste.
How to make kunun gyada using peanut butter
- Scoop out some peanut butter from the jar, avoiding the oil on top. Place in a bowl and add some water.
- Using your hand or balloon whisk, mix to dissolve the butter.
- When you have a smooth watery mixture, sieve with a chiffon cloth into a pot, add rice and cook your kunun gyada.
- Serve with masa (rice cake), moi-moi, akara (Kosai), okpa etc.
Notes
- Do not leave your kunun gyada unattended, the rice will burn.
- Do not add the sugar to the pot of kunun gyada if you won't finish it immediately. It will become runny and watery after a while.
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I love this. God bless you for sharing this knowledge.
God bless you too, Oluchukwu
Thanks for this recipe but you didn’t say how long it needs to be cooked. Also, the rice need to get soft right? that would take like 45 minutes. But I can’t imagine cooking the groundnut sauce for 45 minutes. Is that the case? thanks