Drunk Apricot Shito (Ghanaian Hot Pepper Sauce)

Ingredients for Drunk Apricot Shito (Ghanaian Hot Pepper Sauce)

• 110g dried apricots

• 60g dark rum or arrack

• 1 cucchiaio di burro non salato

• 1/4 cucchiaini di cannella in polvere

• 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon coconut sugar or dark soft brown sugar

• 2 grains of selim pods

• 1/2 teaspoons cubeb pepper or Ashanti pepper (uziza)

• 120ml groundnut oil or vegetable oil

• 1 medium white onion, finely chopped

• 1 piccola cipolla rossa, affettata sottile

• 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

• 1 1" piece ginger, peeled, finely grated (unpeeled if organic)

• 1 tablespoon crushed dried chilli flakes

• 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary

• 1 cucchiaino di timo tritato

• 3/4 teaspoons dried prawn or prawns powder

• 1 teaspoon okra salt or kosher salt, plus more

• 2 tablespoons tomato purée

• 3–4 tablespoons dried chilli powder

• 160ml low-sodium chicken broth

• 1 Scotch bonnet or habanero chilli, pierced a few times with a knife

• Un macinino per spezie o un mortaio e pestello

Place apricots in a small bowl and pour in hot water to cover. Let sit 20 minutes, then drain and coarsely chop. Return apricots to same bowl and add rum; stir to coat. Chill at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day. Drain into a mesh sieve set over another small bowl or container. Reserve apricots and rum separately.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add cinnamon, 3 tablespoons coconut sugar, and reserved apricots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until apricots are slightly softened and coated in caramel, 6–8 minutes. Add reserved rum and cook, stirring often, until thickened and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly. (Just FYI: You can eat these drunk apricots right away over vanilla ice cream and be very happy.)

Toast grains of selim pods and cubeb peppers in a small frying pan over medium-low heat, shaking occasionally, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a spice mill or mortar and pestle and let cool. Grind as well as you can. The grains of selim won’t completely break up, so cracked open but mostly whole is okay—you just want to release some of their flavour.

Heat oil in a large Casserole dish or other heavy pan over medium. Cook white and red onions, stirring occasionally, until softened and just starting brown, 20–25 minutes. Stir in ground grains of selim and cubeb pepper, garlic, ginger, and remaining 1 teaspoon coconut sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add dried chilli flakes, rosemary, thyme, prawn powder, and 1 teaspoon salt to pan and cook, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Add drunk apricots along with any syrup and cook, stirring often, about 2 minutes.

Add tomato purée to pan and cook, stirring occasionally, 4 minutes, then stir in chilli powder. Add broth and fresh chilli. Cover pan and cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until a loose dark brown paste forms, 30–40 minutes. The oil will rise to the surface when the sauce is ready. Remove from heat; taste and season with more salt if needed. If you like texture, leave as is, or blend with an immersion liquidiser (or let it cool slightly and blend it in a liquidiser) to make it smooth. Let cool completely.

Spoon shito into jars or an airtight container with at least a 1/4" layer of oil on top.

Do ahead: Shito can made 1 week ahead. Cover and chill.

Note: The amount of chilli described in this recipe is what I would classify as pretty hot—some West Africans might call this medium hot, some very hot. Folks familiar with heat will enjoy this, but if you don’t like super-jacked heat you should probably err on the lower end of the cooker. West African pantry staples can be found at Zoe's Ghana Kitchen.

Avvertenza

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