What is niter kibbeh? I first discovered this amazing secret ingredient whilst dining in an African Restaurant in Coffs Harbour. The chef is a fabulous man, he introduced me niter kibbeh. Joel actually sent me home from that meal with a takeaway container of the beautiful gold liquid.
Niter Kibbeh is a spice infused, clarified butter. The recipe I have is an infusion of 13 ingredient in butter. The spices give the liquid an unimaginable flavour. Once you reduce the ingredients down the butter no longer tastes like butter, it takes on a deep curry aroma and flavour.
Making clarified butter requires a low and slow cooking process. My oven was set at 95 degrees celsius for 12 hours to allow the flavours to meld together. After 12 or so hours the niter kibbeh is ready for straining. You can continue to cook the oily stock down further but I was impatient. After so many hours of smelling the deliciously, rich curry aroma I wanted to sample the end product.
If you choose to allow the butter to cook down further, the caramelisation of the onions, fennel and garlic adds an even deeper sweeter nutty flavour.
Are you wondering how to use niter kibbeh in cooking? Nitter Kibbeh is used in place of regular oil in cooking. Using the infused butter allows you to get an amazing depth of flavour into even the most simplest of dishes.
The first thing I did with my newly produced nicer was to slather some fresh naan bread in the rich oil. I had made the naan bread for a guest post so I had to be careful not to eat them all before they were photographed!
My husband came home as I was sampling a naan with the nitter kibbeh. Eight naan breads were reduced to three in the blink of an eye! I had to cut him off so I could takes some photos!
The recipe I’m sharing today is courtesy of Joel McCulla. The wonderful chef who first introduced me to this ingredient. The recipe Joel gave me yielded a commercial quantity of niter kibbeh. I’ve cut the recipe by half, but once you try it you may want to double it again!
Ingredients
- 1 large brown onion
- 1 1/2 whole heads garlic
- 1 small fennel
- 1 tsp cumin seed
- 2 tbs fenugreek leaves
- 5 strands saffron
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp coriander seed
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 star anise
- 1 cinnamon quill
- 1/2 tbs black peppercorn
- 2 kgs butter
Instructions
- Without peeling, roughy chop the onion and garlic.
- Place into a baking tray.
- Add the chopped fennel and all the spices.
- Add the butter to the tray.
- Place the tray in the oven and turn the temperature to 90 degrees.
- Once the butter has melted check that all of the ingredients are under the butter.
- You need the oil to seal the flavour in as the ingredients cook down.
- Cook for 12 hour minimum.
- Line a large strainer with muslin or cheese cloth.
- Strain the ingredients off the clarified butter and store the Niter Kibbeh in the fridge.
- Discard the remaining sludge ingredients.
I have since used the butter to grill fish and to cook my morning fried eggs!! YUM! I promise you, the flavour is a revelation!
Thank you so much Joel for sharing your delicious recipe. Those of you who’ve followed Gourmet Getaways for a while might remember Joel as the chef who made the REAL Mouse Burger! Have a read of this!!
My dear readers, what would you use this butter on? I’m wondering, would dare to fry a mouse in it??