Togolese Recipes

Togolese cooking centers on starchy staples and rich sauces, with the Ewe and Mina communities of the south shaping much of what is eaten. Maize is made into akoumé, a smooth dough, or into djenkoumé, a red paste cooked in tomato broth. Cassava, yam and plantain are pounded into fufu, and rice and beans are cooked together as ayimolou. The sauces, called dessi, are the center of every meal: okra, leafy greens like gboma, groundnut and tomato, finished with red palm oil and flavored with smoked fish, shrimp, beef or goat. Chili is served fresh, often as a raw paste of tomato and chili. Grilled chicken, called koklo meme, is the best-known street food, and steamed maize and rice cakes called ablo are sold in the morning. Food is eaten by hand from a shared dish, and fish is a staple on the coast and along the rivers.

Staple ingredients

• maize
• cassava
• rice and beans
• okra
• leafy greens
• red palm oil
• smoked fish
• hot chili

• Main Dishes 5
• Side Dishes 1

Main Dishes

• Ayimolou (Togolese Rice and Beans with Tomato Sauce)TG1 h 50 minMedium
• Djenkoumé (Togolese Red Maize Paste with Tomato Chicken Sauce)TG1 h 25 minMedium
• Fétri Dessi (Togolese Okra Sauce with Beef and Shrimp)TG1 h 35 minEasy
• Gboma Dessi (Togolese Spinach Stew with Beef and Smoked Fish)TG1 h 40 minEasy
• Koklo Meme (Togolese Grilled Chicken with Raw Chili Sauce)TG1 h 5 minEasy

Side Dishes

• Ablo (Togolese Steamed Rice and Maize Cakes)TG1 h 5 minMedium