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Recipe 04 / Kenya 🇰🇪

Hand-drawn portrait of Morena
Created by

Morena

Nairobi, Kenya

Available100 ml / Heat 3 of 3

Pilipili Ya Kukaanga

Kenyan fried chilli sauce

Pilipili Ya Kukaanga bottle created by MorenaPre-order a pack

Morena / The opening note

Morena grew up in Nairobi, where weekend lunches were rarely contained to one table and somebody always carried pilipili ya kukaanga.

A bowl of Kenyan pilipili ya kukaanga with tomato, onion and red chillies

Inside Pilipili Ya Kukaanga

Fresh natural ingredients

  1. 01Red bird’s-eye chillies
  2. 02Ripe tomato
  3. 03Onion
  4. 04Garlic
  5. 05Fresh ginger
  6. 06Cumin
  7. 07Tomato paste
  8. 08Lime or tamarind
  9. 09Cooking oil
  10. 10Sea salt

The story behind the sauce

Fried. Bright. Nairobi.

Aunties arrived with pilau, cousins brought nyama choma and the chilli sauce moved between them. Morena began making her own after university.

Onion, garlic, ginger and cumin are fried before ripe tomato and red bird’s-eye chillies join the pan. It cooks until thick and glossy, then lime or tamarind brings it sharply back to life.

“It should arrive hot, then leave you tasting the whole plate.”— Morena