1
Slice meat
Trim all fat and slice the beef into broad, paper-thin sheets.
Niger | Snack
Kilishi
Nigerien-Hausa kilishi, paper-thin lean beef dried, coated in spicy groundnut labu paste, dried again, and roasted crisp.
Country
Niger
Region
West Africa
Time
435 min
Serves
8
Level
hard
Recipe overview
What to know before you cook
Kilishi is preservation cooking. Thin slices, patient drying, and a well-seasoned labu paste make the meat crisp, spicy, and long-lasting.
What the dish tastes like
Nigerien-Hausa kilishi, paper-thin lean beef dried, coated in spicy groundnut labu paste, dried again, and roasted crisp.
When to cook it
Best for Snack and gift, with a hard cooking level and about 435 minutes total.
What to serve alongside it
Kunu, pap, garri, cucumber salad, or extra chile powder
Follow the collection
Kilishi appears in 2 AfroKitchen collections. Start with Sunday Specials if you want more dishes in the same mood. Sunday Specials
Regional lane
Niger national table. A verified Niger dish in the AfroKitchen archive.
Chef watch-outs
- Rushing the base before the raw edge has cooked out.
- Adding all seasoning early and forgetting to adjust at the end.
- Cooking on heat that is too high once the dish should be steaming or simmering.
How you know it is ready
- The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.
- Oil, sauce, broth, or steam should look settled and deliberate.
- The final texture should match the dish style before you plate it.
Recipe photos
See the dish before you cook
Each recipe supports one main image and up to four extra prep, serving, or step photos when they are available.
Chef board
Build the table around Kilishi
Kunu, pap, garri, cucumber salad, or extra chile powder
Best route from here
Niger national table
Collections to keep cooking
How to cook it
Step-by-step method
Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.
5 steps
435 min total
hard
2
Dry first
Lay meat on racks and dry in strong sun or a very low oven until firm but still flexible.
First dry
180:00
3
Make labu
Mix groundnut paste with chili, ginger, garlic, onion, cloves if using, seasoning cube if using, salt, and enough water to spread.
4
Coat and dry
Brush labu paste over each sheet and return to racks until the coating dries and clings to the meat.
Second dry
150:00
5
Roast crisp
Roast briefly over low coals or in a hot oven until aromatic and lightly crisp, then cool before storing.
Roast kilishi
10:00
Every household has small variations. Start here, then adjust seasoning, heat, and serving sides to your kitchen.