Dambu or dambou is a dish native to the Zarma and Songhai of Southwestern

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

made from cereals and

Moringa Moringa may refer to: * ''Moringa'' (genus), a genus of plants * ''Moringa oleifera ''Moringa oleifera'' is a short-lived, fast-growing, drought-resistant tree of the family Moringaceae, native to northern India and used extensively in South ...

. It is consumed at any time but mainly during festive occasions such as

outdooring In Ghana, an Outdooring ( Ga: ''kpodziemo''; , Ewe language “vihehedego”) is the traditional naming ceremony for infants. Traditionally this ceremony occurs eight days after the child is born where parents bring their newborn "outdoors" and gi ...

s and

wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

s. This dish is also common among the

Dendi people The Dendi are an ethnic group located in Benin, Niger, Nigeria and northern Togo mainly in the plains of the Niger River. They are part of the Songhai people, and were an integral part of the Songhai Empire as the Dendi province or Dendiganda. ...

of North

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

and other West African cities. It is also common in the

Zongo Settlements Zongo settlements are areas in West African towns populated mostly by migrants from the northern savannah regions and the West African Sahel, especially from Niger and northern Nigeria. Common features of the zongo communities are their use of H ...

where the Songhai and Zarma travel.

Ingredients

(from a French version of the dish) #Fine

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

semolina Semolina is the name given to roughly milled durum wheat mainly used in making pasta and sweet puddings. The term ''semolina'' is also used to designate coarse millings of other varieties of wheat, and sometimes other grains (such as rice or ma ...

couscous Couscous () is a traditional North African dish a quote: “Couscous or seksu (Image 1) in Berber language or kuskus in Arabic is by origin a Numidian (the Berber population of Numidia) dish…” of small steamed granules of rolled semolina ...

Spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to Central Asia, Central and Western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common vegetable consumed eit ...

(or

moringa Moringa may refer to: * ''Moringa'' (genus), a genus of plants * ''Moringa oleifera ''Moringa oleifera'' is a short-lived, fast-growing, drought-resistant tree of the family Moringaceae, native to northern India and used extensively in South ...

leaves) #

Onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

# Aji Dulce capsicum (or similar, like the ''sweet Martinique pepper'' or ''Grenada seasoning chile''), or substitute green bell pepper (optional) #

Salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

#Stock cubes #

Cooking oil Cooking oil (also known as edible oil) is a plant or animal liquid fat used in frying, baking, and other types of cooking. Oil allows higher cooking temperatures than water, making cooking faster and more flavorful, while likewise distributing h ...

Preparation

Dambou is prepared according to the desire and will of the cook. For a simple dish, cooks mostly use either: rice flour or fine hard wheat semolina (couscous semolina) or millet, wheat or corn couscous. The cereals is steamed for about 20 to 30 minutes and added the already boiled moringa leaves. Finally, the other ingredients are added in their raw state: i.e onion, chili, salt, broth, peanut, vegetable oil, meat or fish as a side dish.

References

Nigerien cuisine {{Niger-stub