Fried yam (dundun) is a popular street food on the streets of Nigeria. Today, I will share a crispy oven baked yam chips recipe, which is easy to make at home; and tastes as delicious as dundun.
By yam, I mean African yam, which is widely consumed around West African and the Caribbean Islands. If you are not familiar with African yam, please check this post out.
With the word “chips”, I mean long and thin cut, which is either fried or baked, and which our friends across the pond call “fries”. I will stick with the British description of this word, as I will be making the yam into chips, similar to potato chips.
Yam chips could be a snack or a main meal; and it works anytime of the day. Baking the yam rather than frying is not only convenient, it also means you get crispy yam chips every time. The addition of spices to this regular meal takes it up a notch to something special.
How To Make African Yam Chips
Here are the ingredients you need...
- African yam
- Butter
- Salt
- Smoked paprika
- Mild curry powder
A few notes about the ingredients...
- Yam: African White yam or yellow yam is best for this recipe. I find that mature yam can be too dry sometimes; and new yam works better.
- Spices: I used my favourite spices here, but you don’t have to do the same. Toss the yam in your favourite spices to jazz up the chips. I sometimes use salt, onion power and chilli flakes for spicy yam chips. If you don’t want spices, just toss in salt.
- Butter: Can be replaced with oil of your choice.
How To Make It
The hardest part of this African yam recipe is peeling and cutting the yam. After that, it becomes a breeze. This post shows how to peel a yam easily.
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees centigrade.
Cut off one end of the yam and cut into big chunks.
Peel the yam and cut into sticks/batons. Place the yam into a bowl of water to prevent browning.
Pour the yam sticks into a colander to drain, then pour in a bowl.
Melt the butter so it turns liquid. Pour into the bowl with some salt and the spices.
Toss the yam to get even coating on all pieces and pour on a baking tray.
Make sure the oven has achieved the right temperature, and place the tray in.
Leave to bake for 20 mins. Remove from the oven and serve hot.
Recipe FAQ
Fully baked yam chips does not keep well in the fridge as it becomes soggy over time; and dries out when warmed. On the contrary, frozen raw yam sticks will keep well in the freezer. Toss in butter or oil with salt and spices. Freeze in a single layer first to prevent clumping, then pack into a ziplock bag and return to the freezer. When you are ready to eat, just place the frozen yam chips straight on a baking tray and bake.
Related Recipes
Similar to boiled African yam, the chips go very well with a lot of sauces. It is usually served with ata dindin (fried stew), but it also pairs well with garden egg stew and corned beef stew.
Other yam recipes to try;
Yam porridge with plantain (Asaro)
Oven Baked Crispy Yam Chips
Ingredients
- Yam quater of a medium size
- 30 g Butter
- Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon Smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon Mild curry powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C
- Cut off one end the yam and cut into big chunks.
- Peel the yam and cut into sticks/batons. Drop the yam into a bowl of water to prevent browning.
- Pour the yam sticks into a colander to drain, then pour in a bowl.
- Melt the butter so it turns liquid. Pour into the bowl with some salt and the spices.
- Toss the yam to get even coating on all pieces and pour on a baking tray.
- Make sure the oven has achieved the right temperature, and place the tray in.
- Leave to bake for 20 mins. Remove from the oven and serve hot.
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