Nigerian Toasted Groundnuts
Nigerian toasted groundnuts are raw peanuts roasted in hot sand until golden, salted, and rubbed free of their skins. The sand is the interesting part: it holds steady heat around each nut, so the roast is even, and it keeps cooking them after the stove is off. Soaking the nuts in salted water first seasons them through. Serve them at parties with bread, garden eggs, or roasted maize.
Instructions
Pick over the raw groundnuts and discard any that are rotten, along with any debris.
Soak the groundnuts in salted water. Salting before roasting lets the nuts absorb the seasoning, so it carries through to the finished snack.
Heat the sand in a pan on the stove for about 3 minutes. Add the groundnuts to the hot sand and keep turning them, because they are not cooked yet and can burn quickly. You will hear a pop, and the skins will shift from deep red to light brown as roasting begins.
Take out one groundnut and peel it to check the color. If it is still white inside, keep stirring until it turns golden. Stop before it gets too brown, since the hot sand will go on cooking the rest after the heat is off.
Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for a few minutes. Pick the groundnuts out of the sand and spread them in a dry tray or basin to cool completely.
Roll the cooled groundnuts between your palms until the skins come away. Blow the loose skins off or let the breeze carry them away, then serve.
Store leftovers in an airtight container or bottle, since air makes the groundnuts damp and dulls their flavor. Hold the pot by its side with a thick cloth while stirring, because both the pot and the nuts get very hot.
Make it personal.
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