Shitɔ – Ghanaian Black Chilli Sauce

Hi there, hope you tried the previous recipes shared and I honestly hope that you enjoyed cooking/eating them as well.

If you are a fan of Ghanaian cuisine, you must definitely know that we love our chilies and eat it with almost every meal. Shitɔ (pronounced as shitor),  basically translates into ‘burnt sauce‘ in the Ga language of Ghana. We have many varieties of chili sauces and of course, every household has its own recipes. But the one thing you will find common is that they are all spicy hot. As in burning hot sensations on your tongue after tasting, so most people sensitive to chilies always avoid them.

For a basic shitɔ recipe, there’s always some kind of protein added, normally dried fish/shrimp powder or dried beef. It also takes loads amount of time in preparing this chili sauce, which is why most Ghanaians prefer to buy them readily from the market and shops.

For this recipe, I have made it easy, vegan, gluten-free, much less spicy and you only need basic household ingredients to cook up this Ghanaian favourite of ours. I hope you have your Kat’s super trio blend ready. You will be needing it to save time but if not, just get a blend of garlic, ginger, and onion in a 1:2:3 ration, ready and let’s get some shitɔ cooking.

How to make Ghana Shito (Black Chilli Sauce)

Ingredients

200 ml cooking oil, preferably seed oil
200 g Kat’s Super Trio Blend
2 tablespoon tomato paste
50g chili powder/flakes
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
Salt to taste

Steps to prepare

1. Blend/Mix together all ingredients. Add to a frying pan.
2. Cook over medium heat for half to an hour, stirring occasionally.

Enjoy with Ghanaian braised rice, waakye (as pictured) kenkey, or banku. #katsfoods