I just can’t get enough of this watermelon salad with suya spice, inspired by the popular West African street food, suya. The combination of refreshing and sweet salad with the savoury aromatic flavours of suya spice with spring onions (yep, I can’t stand raw onions, even with suya) just wakes up the taste buds.
Suya is spiced meat, usually beef on a skewer, which is cooked on a grill. What makes “suya” is the spice, which is made from a blend of ground peanut cake, ginger and other spices. I have added suya spice to grilled vegetable stir fries but using it as a salad dressing is new to me.
Suya sellers typically serve suya with some sort of salad; usually tomatoes and onions; but I have taken it further by using the spice as inspiration for my watermelon salad. This unusual combination of watermelon, cucumber, avocado and peanut based spicy salad dressing is delicious. It is simply a winner; and one you will come back to again and again.
Suya spice dressing elevates the sweetness of the watermelon; and adds a kick which just jazzes up the salad. If you are up to trying a regular salad with a twist; then you should try this watermelon salad with suya spice.
Recipe - Watermelon Salad With Suya Spice
This recipe is easy and suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
I don’t have access to ground peanut cake used in original suya spice; and had to improvise with peanut butter, which is more readily available to me; and it worked perfectly. I used smooth peanut butter, but if you like some crunch; you can use the crunchy one. It is important to buy a brand that does not have added sugar.
This suya noodles stir-fry is another interesting way to use suya spice. The blog post has a recipe for easy suya spice mix for people who do not have access to peanut cake and other spices which are only available locally in West Africa.
Watermelon Salad With Suya Spice
Ingredients
Salad Dressing
- 1 tablespoon Peanut butter
- ½ teaspoon Chilli flakes
- 1 teaspoon Ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Onion powder
- 3 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt – a pinch a pinch
Salad
- ½ medium Watermelon
- 1 medium Cucumber – 1 medium sized cut into slices
- 2 medium Avocado – 2 medium sized peeled and cubed
- 2 stalks Spring onions chopped
Instructions
- Mix all of the salad dressing ingredients in a bowl and add a pinch of salt to taste. Keep to one side.
- Peel and cut the watermelon into cubes in a bowl.
- Add the sliced cucumber and avocado cubes. Pour in the spring onions.
- Add the dressing into the bowl and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.
Nutrition
You will also want to to try these suya recipes;
The avocado and peanut butter made this ultra creamy- perfect with the crunch of watermelon! I didn't have cucumber, so I just added baby spinach and romaine lettuce as a green substitute. I also tried the dressing with fresh ingredients (ginger, garlic, onion) finely chopped and it was even better.
Thank you for sharing you feedback with me. I like that you substituted the cucumbers with what you had and added twist of your own with the fresh ingredients.