Though the expert "Malam's"  are from the Northern Nigeria you will find them all over the country. Usually every areas has a "suya spot" with it's "Malam", the name for the owner or controller of the joint.

Suya is thinly sliced beef or chicken threaded onto wooden skewers, covered with "Yaji" (suya spice) and grilled over smoky fires.  Yagi ingredients vary from place to place and recipes are a closely guarded secret.

It is served on the stick or removed and wrapped in newspaper along with tomatoes, onions and cucumbers to take home.  This pairing makes perfect sense as suya is one spicy "meat-a-ball" and the vegetables are cooling.

My first attempt at suya was pronounced a success but I will make a few changes next time.

One spice, African Negro Pepper, is unavailable to me as it is not exported much.  At one time it was uses as pepper in European countries but fell out of favor when the types we use now grew in popularity. African negro pepper or "Uda" has a distinctive aftertaste that black pepper we enjoy now does not.

I also took the lazy man's route in my preparation of the Yaji by not first preparing "Kuli Kuli" as an ingredient fir the Yaji.  Kuli Kuli is made by grinding roasted ground nuts (peanuts), squeezing the oil from the mixture and frying it into chunks.  The chunks are then allowed to dry and they are ground again to a powder in a mortar and pestle.  

I ground the peanuts for my Yaji to a crumbly consistency, not a paste, and used that.  It's ok because that's exactly what Nigerians do when they are feeling lazy.

Yanji (suya spice) ingredients.  Garlic, paprika, black pepper, onion powder, cayenne, ginger and ground beef bouillon cubes.  Ground bouillon is a major spice in Nigeria.

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Ground peanuts

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Spices added to ground groundnuts

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Pulse to combine
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Thinly slice beef (I used flatiron steaks) and thread onto sticks.  Force the Yanji into the meat with your hands and leave to marinate several hours to infuse the meat with all kinds of wonderfulness.  A Nigerian would never refrigerate but I think I will.
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Grill over a medium hot fire smoking with coffee wood.  Coffee wood is tropical wood.
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Serve with tomato, onion and cucumber slices.
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This was unbelievably good.  Next time I will double the amount of cayenne and be sure to make the kuli kuli.

Here is what I’ve found

What are ground nuts?

Groundnuts are a staple food in many developing countries. Also called peanuts, groundnuts are a protein rich tuber that grows well in semi-arid regions.   There are two main types of groundnuts: the American groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), and the African groundnut, the Bambara nut (Voandzeia subterranea).  Both are grown in Western Africa as a protein source. Groundnuts also contain sufficient quantities of carbohydrates and fats. After drying and roasting the groundnut it can be used to make flour, soup, porridge, and milk. Groundnuts are often grown by small farm holders and is considered a woman's crop in Western Africa.  

From   http://forest.mtu.edu/pcforestry/resources/studentprojects/groundnut.html" rel="nofollow - Women, Groundnuts and Development in West Africa .

 

The American ground nut (peanut) is a South American groundnut that has largely displaced the  African bambaba groundnut which is considered an underutilized crop.  It has less oil and more protein than the peanut.  

From  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW_re4Lgx1g" rel="nofollow - African Bambara Groundnut

When Africans came to America as slaves peanuts came with them.

From  http://www.goodearthpeanuts.com/historyworld.htm" rel="nofollow -

 

I might have missed it, but what are the amounts on the spices - or if it is more of a "to taste" thing, do you have any suggestions as to where a person could start? Teaspoon of each? Tablespoon? Cloves of garlic? I assume that if I made it with chicken, I'd use chicken bouillon?

 

I'd love to try this, as it looks easy and would make for a great grilled lunch with some garden-fresh produce.

For my first attempt at suya I used this recipe

3 lbs Beef, chicken, or fish (I used flatiron steaks)
2 cup roasted peanuts
2 Tbsp grated ginger
8 cloves garlic, crushed
2 bouillon cubes.  Maggi is the Nigerian favorite.
4 tsp paprika
3 tsp onion powder
2 tsp cayenne or to taste (optional)

2 tsp black pepper

I will make several changes next time.  

First I will double the cayenne.  

The most authentic recipes have all dry ingredients so I will switch to powdered ginger and garlic .  This makes sense as the ground peanut mixture had a tendency to crumble off where it was heaviest.

Rod, My thought was to make the kuli kuli which is a method of drying out the peanuts but I have since discovered  http://www.amazon.com/PB2-Powdered-Peanut-Butter-6-5/dp/B002GJ9JWS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1378848532&sr=8-2&keywords=powder+peanutbutter" rel="nofollow -   which is ground roasted peanuts that have had most of the oil removed.  It is essentially the same thing as kuli kuli, just not fried, so out with the ground peanuts/kuli kuli and in with the powder. 

Ron, definitely go with chicken bouillon if using chicken.  There is plenty of salt in bouillon so use unsalted peanuts if you decide to grind them.

Brush the meat with peanut oil or any vegetable oil before forcing the spice mixture into the meat to help it adhere.  Pack it on over and over to get as much into the meat as possible.  Sprinkle more onto the meat just before serving.  The spice is nice 

First grind them a bit more than I did in the photo above.  Stop processing when pasty but not peanut butter.  Place the peanut paste onto a clean kitchen tea towel and roll up tightly.  Apply force with a weighted object several times. Unwrap and repeat several times with new clean towels.  The paste will dry and is now ready for frying.