This palm oil chilli oil combines all the best qualities of a seasoned oil. It is incredibly savoury from the onion, garlic, ginger, and a splash of red palm oil, seasoned with aromatic spices that make this chilli oil perfect to accompany any meal.
Why palm oil belongs in chilli oil
A few months ago, I did a whole series on the unrefined oils of West Africa, where red palm oil featured heavily. In this video I broke down the flavour notes of red palm oil and why people should not be afraid to include it in their diets. You can read more about it in this post (click here). In this series, I featured a chilli oil that incorporates red palm as the base of the chilli oil. This makes sense in my Ghanaian mind because we top a lot of dishes with red palm oil.
Our classic beans and plantain dishes are topped with a seasoned red palm oil. Our local quick sauces, which we call abom, are finished off with onions cooked in a generous amount of red palm oil. Then on the other end, we have shito — popular Ghanaian black sauce used as a hot sauce for rice based dishes or dipping sauce for staple foods like banku. Slowly stewed hot sauce, cooked in oil, are used to accompany all types of dishes. They come in black or green, and they are all divine. For this recipe, I pulled inspiration from both classes of seasoned oil/sauce. An oil that is rich in flavour but not cooked for as long as the classic shito.
In the end, to diversify chilli oil offerings, one should look to Ghana for lots of options.
What you will need for this palm oil chilli oil.
Oil. For the oil, we are going to combine red palm oil and vegetable oil. I combine these oils for two reasons. One, palm oil can solidify at room temperature, and when the ambient temperature cools down. it behave exactly like coconut oil. Mixing the red palm oil with vegetable oil offers an opportunity to keep the seasoned oil at room temperature without it getting rock solid, especially in cooler climates. Also red palm oil has a low smoke point so it can burn easily at higher temperatures. To keep things from burning, adding the vegetable oil helps to allow me to cook at a higher temperature.
Aromatics. The base of this chilli oil is onions, garlic and ginger. You cannot go wrong with these three ingredients.
Pepper. I prefer to use dried chilli powder just because it is easier to use, but you are welcome to use a few scotch bonnet peppers.
Spices. To be very honest with you, spices are customizable. I usually reach for anise seeds, rosemary and fermented locust beans, but you can literally use whatever you have, just make sure it is well seasoned.
Bouillon cube. For extra savouriness, I like to add some better then bouillon paste, but feel free to use whatever you prefer or just extra salt.
How to make Palm Oil Chilli Oil
Palm oil chilli oil is not made exactly like typical quick oils. It requires some cooking to ensure it can last longer and develop flavour.
- Heat the vegetable oil and red palm oil. Doing so can start the cooking process
- Add the aromatics. These ingredients have a lot of moisture so cooking them hot and early in the chilli oil process is essential. As we are using much more oil in volume compared to the aromatic mix, the cooking process doesn’t take long
- Add the spices and chilli powder. Spices become fragrant when added to oil as the flavour compounds are more soluble in oil. Adding the spices at this step helps to also keep them from burning.
- After cooking down for another 10 minutes, the chilli oil is ready. Store in an airtight container.
How to store the palm oil chilli oil
I understand some people are not fans of chilli oil because of the oil but the oil is very important. The added oil makes it possible to store the chilli oil at room temperature without it going bad. I always recommend people use a clean spoon to portion out a serving. You can store this in the fridge but it will solidify a little because of the red palm oil; it just needs to be reheated for a few seconds to bring it back to how it was made.
The best way to serve palm oil chilli oil
This chilli oil can go on anything. Rice. A dipping sauce. Topping for noodles. You name it! Here are a few of my favourite recipes to pair this recipe with.
If you like this recipe. I recommend checking out my vegan shito recipe. This classic Ghanaian hot sauce has a similar process, rich with flavour and the essential hot sauce for many Ghanaian dishes.
Ingredients
- 4-5 cloves of garlic
- 1 large thumb-sized piece of ginger
- 1 small onion
- 1 cup neutral vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup red palm oil
- 2-3 tablespoons of chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried fermented locust beans optional
- 1 teaspoon of anise seeds
- 1 bouillon cube
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Blend the onion, garlic and ginger into a paste
- In a small pot or pan set over medium heat, heat the red palm oil with the vegetable oil for a few minutes. To check that it is hot enough, drop a tiny amount of the blended paste and see if the oil sizzles
- Add the blended onion, garlic and ginger paste and cook for 15 minutes at medium heat, stirring periodically
- Add the chilli powder, spices, and bouillon paste and cook at medium-low heat for about 10 minutes
- Taste and adjust for salt
- It is ready to store. Store in an airtight container at room temperature