National Dish Togo: Koliko (Recipe)
In this article
Koliko is fried yam — thick chips of the white root, crisp outside and floury within, salted and eaten with a hot tomato sauce. It is the most common street snack in Togo, sold from oil drums at the roadside from morning to night, and it is what fried potato wishes it could be.
About Koliko
Koliko is Togo’s crisp fried yam snack. Thin slices of fresh yam are fried until golden, crunchy outside and tender within, and served in the classic way with a fiery tomato and chilli sauce. This much-loved street snack is a genuine piece of West African everyday life, eaten standing, wrapped in paper, at any hour.
Ingredients (serves 1–2)
- 500 g yam, peeled — or sweet potato
- Oil, for deep frying
- Salt, to taste
- For the sauce: 2 tomatoes, 1 onion, 1–2 chillies, 1 tablespoon oil, salt
Shopping for the ingredients
True white yam (Dioscorea) is sold in African and Caribbean shops and is quite different from sweet potato, drier, starchier and better for frying. Choose a firm root with no soft spots. The skin is thick and needs a heavy knife rather than a peeler.
Preparing the dish
Peel the yam thickly and cut it into chips or thick rounds. Soak them in cold water for ten minutes to remove surface starch, then dry them thoroughly, wet yam spits dangerously in hot oil and fries badly.
Step-by-step instructions
- Peel the yam thickly and cut into chips about 1 cm thick.
- Soak in cold water for 10 minutes, then drain and dry thoroughly.
- Make the sauce: blend the tomatoes, onion and chillies and fry in the oil for 10–12 minutes until thick; season.
- Heat the frying oil to 160°C.
- Fry the yam in batches for 6–8 minutes until cooked through but pale.
- Lift out and rest for 5 minutes.
- Raise the oil to 180°C and fry again for 2–3 minutes until deep golden and crisp.
- Drain, salt generously and serve hot with the sauce.
Gluten-free / lactose-free version
Koliko is naturally gluten-free and lactose-free, yam, oil and salt, with a vegetable sauce. No adaptation is needed.
Tips for vegans and vegetarians
The snack is vegan as written, sauce included. Yam is filling enough that a plate of koliko counts as a meal rather than a snack for most people.
More tips and tricks
Fry twice, once at a lower temperature to cook through, once hot to crisp. This is the same principle as good chips and it makes a substantial difference. Dry the yam thoroughly first. And salt immediately while the surface is still hot.
Adapting the recipe to your taste
A dusting of chilli powder with the salt is common. Ginger in the sauce adds warmth. Some stalls serve koliko with wagashi, the fried Fulani cheese, which is an excellent combination.
Ingredient substitutions
Sweet potato works with a shorter cooking time and a sweeter result. Plantain fried the same way is aloko. Cassava can be treated identically.
Drink pairing ideas
Bissap or ginger juice both cut the oil well. A cold beer suits it in the evening. Sodabi, the local palm spirit, is what it is served with at a bar.
Serving and presentation ideas
Serve koliko hot in paper or on a plate, heavily salted, with the chilli sauce in a bowl for dipping. It is finger food and should be eaten immediately, yam loses its crispness within minutes.
A bit of history
Yam is the older West African staple, cultivated long before cassava arrived from the Americas, and it carries considerable cultural weight, yam festivals mark the harvest across Ghana, Togo and Nigeria. Frying it is the simplest and most popular street preparation. It offers a genuine window onto Togolese cuisine.
More recipe ideas
Summary: Koliko
Koliko is yam cut into chips and fried twice until crisp, salted hard and served with a hot tomato-chilli sauce. Dry it well, fry it twice, and eat it immediately.
