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Kanyah is a simple snack that’s sold all over Sierra Leone. It’s gluten free and very simple – just three main ingredients: garri, peanuts and sugar. The women in the villages make kanyah the old-fashioned way, using muscle power to pound it into oblivion. Women in Sierra Leone have muscles of steel and chat away as they work the ingredients to a smooth paste.

Garri – dried, toasted, granulated cassava – is made from the dried, ground tuberous roots of the cassava plant. The dried granules have a texture similar to medium semolina. Garri is a major part of the diet among various ethnicities of Nigeria, Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, Guinea, Cameroon, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Buy in West African grocers or online.

Try Maria's gari kanyah recipe, then check out more peanut butter baking recipes.

This is a recipe that Maria shared as part of her guide to the food of Sierra Leone. Check it out to learn about the rich, fiery flavours of this West African country, including Maria's recipe for fish huntu and pepe chicken. Recipe extracted from Sweet Salone by Maria Bradford (£30, Quadrille). Photographs: Yuki Sugiura. Recipes are sent by the publisher and not retested by us.

Gari kanyah recipe

Ingredients

  • 360g ready-made garri
  • 350g crunchy peanut butter (use one without palm oil)
  • 50-100g coconut sugar (to taste)

Method

  • STEP 1

    Toast the garri in a dry frying pan until warm and browned. Put the toasted garri and peanut butter in the bowl of a food processor and blend for 4-5 mins until smooth, scraping down the sides with a spatula a few times. Taste and add sugar according to your preference and blend again.

  • STEP 2

    Press the mixture in an even layer in the base of a 20cm square brownie tin, then cut into squares. Serve right away or store in an airtight container for up to four weeks.

More ways with peanut butter

Peanut Butter Flapjacks Recipe

Alternative sweet traybakes

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