Fonio salad with a citrus fruit dressing
This recipe is a tribute to fonio, an ancient (heritage) grain native to West Africa. It is considered a “superfood” due to its high concentrations of essential nutrients like magnesium and calcium. It is also rich in fibre and antioxidants. Fonio also has the advantage of a long shelf life and is gluten free. I was inspired by Malian blogger Gabougouni while searching for a salad recipe based on fonio. Now, I enjoy reinventing my fonio salad with a variety of flavours, much to the delight of my guests. This salad is quick (just 25 minutes) and easy to make, and you’ll find fonio available to buy online and in markets and organic food shops.
INGREDIENTS (Serves 2)
For the fonio:
200 g of precooked fonio
150ml of water
40g of red hibiscus (also known as “bissap”)
1 teaspoon of saffron (or turmeric for a more affordable option)
For the salad:
1 bunch of parsley
1 small cucumber
1½ bunches of mint
2 medium tomatoes
1 red onion
1 bunch of spring onions
Juice of 3 limes
5 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
PREPARATION 25 minutes
Prepare the hibiscus infusion by heating half the water until it starts to simmer, then add the hibiscus flowers, and allow to steep, off the heat, for about 10 minutes.
Heat the remaining water to a simmer, take off the heat, and add the saffron or turmeric. Allow to steep.
Dice the onions, tomatoes, and cucumber into small cubes (brunoise).
Chop the fresh herbs. Mix the pre-chopped vegetables and herbs with the olive oil and lime juice. Season to taste. Then set aside, as this allows the flavours to mix.
Rinse the fonio and divide it into two equal portions (100g each).
Strain the hibiscus water to remove the flowers. Keep the infused water (the flowers can be disposed of in the compost).
In a pan, add half the rinsed fonio to the hibiscus water along with a pinch of salt. Using a separate pan, repeat the process with the saffron (turmeric) infused water; strain if required, add the remaining fonio, and a pinch of salt.
Heat the fonio and water until slightly simmering. Stir well. Place a lid on the pans, turn off the heat and allow the fonio to steam for around 5 minutes. This will finish the cooking process and the fonio will suck up all the liquid. Once the liquid is absorbed, take off the lids and allow the fonio to cool.
From the vegetable herb mix, take four spoonfuls and set aside. Fluff the cooked fonio with a fork and add half the remaining salad mix to the pink fonio and the other half to yellow fonio. Mix.
Divide the fonio between two shallow bowls with half the pink on one side and half the yellow on the other side.
Spoon the remaining vegetable-herb mixture onto your cooked fonio and serve with griddled vegetables, mushrooms, chicken skewers, lobster, breaded tofu, black-eyed peas or tropical fruits.
Paule Béké is a chef, owner of Douceurs D’Ivoire, and recently a contestant on MasterChef The Professionals. Paule is currently based in London and was born and lived in the Ivory Coast until she was 14, when she moved to France and spent the rest of her childhood there. Despite having a business degree and working in the corporate world, cooking was always Paule’s passion so she retrained as a chef and went on to set up her own private catering company; Douceurs D’Ivoire, which offers refined African gastronomy, as a catering and private chef service. Paule’s training in Paris, Abidjan, Accra and London means she has extensive knowledge of diverse cuisines and cooking techniques but her specialty is African gastronomy. Paule’s dream is to make Ivorian food as popular as other cuisines in the UK.