Chilis of Africa

All the Chilis of Africa came from Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The nearest relative to the Chilis indigenous to Africa is the Eggplant.

More on Chili Peppers.

Baklouti

This is the favorite chili for making the famous Harissa Sauce of Tunisia, which has spread to the rest of the Maghreb region. It was probably developed from chilis brought by the Spanish during their occupation of Tunisia between 1535 and 1574. The larger in the photo was 4.2 inches long and 1.1 inches diameter, with hotness about H3. The flesh is sweet and thin enough to dry well.

Peri Peri   /   Pili Pili   /   Piri Piri

[Piri Piri, (Portugal, Africa); Ata Wewe (Yoruba - Nigeria); (C. frutescens]

Up to 2 inches long, these are standard Bird Chilis, brought to Africa by the Portuguese, and are used under the same name in Portugal as well. They are quite hot (H9). They are not marketed to any extent in North America, so you must grow your own or use a substitute.   Subst: Thai Chilis are not as hot but much more available in North America.

Pili Pili Mbuzi

Frequently used in Tanzania and Congo, but not much in Kenya and Uganda. These are Habenero type chilis. They may be wrinkled as in the photo, or longer and smoother. Red seems preferred, but green and orange are also used. They are quite hot (H10). Here in California, red are often not available, but the Orange Habanero always is, and works fine unless color is important.

Cameroon Pepper

These are actually dried Yellow Scotch Bonnet / Habanero chilis. While these chilis are not normally good subjects for drying, northern Cameroon, adjacent to Nigeria, has a climate hot and dry enough to do the job. The photo examples are not as dark and dull as those from Africa because they were dried in my electric dehydrator, so didn't have time for the colors to degrade. This chili is also often sold in flake or powder form. It is extremely hot ( H10).

Ata Ijosi   /   Ata Wewe   /   Ata Gungun

[(Yoruba - Nigeria)]

Ata Ijosi (pictured C. frutescence) is a very small Bird Pepper, hotness about H9. They are now very popular in Nigeria, fresh and dried, especially for Ata DinDin sauce. Ata Ijosi are up to 0.75 inch long and 0.32 inches wide, and are sometimes available on-line in North America.

Ata Wewe (C. frutescence) as best I can find, is Yoruba for Peri Peri Chilis, fresh and dried (H9). It seems to be more popular than Ata Ijosi, perhaps more available.

Ata Gungun, Ose (C. annuum) is the Cayene chili, heat around H8.

Cayenne

Originating in French Guiana, this famous chili has been used to make the Cayenne chili powder used in many cuisines - except that powder is at least as likely to be made from some other variety and just labeled "Cayenne". Today there are many cultivars, but the Cayenne pod is generally long and thin, up to nearly 10 inches, often curved at the tip, and ripens pointing down. It is quite hot ( H8). Subst: Thai Chilis, which are a Cayenne type cultivar.

Habaneros

Originally from the Yucatán of Mexico, this extremely hot chili (H10) is one of the most important chilis in the Caribbean Islands and along the Caribbean coast of South America. Due to the slave trade they were taken to West Africa along with the nearly identical Scotch Bonnets. The two are now the dominant chilis in the region. They come in Green, Red, Orange and Yellow, with White, Purple and "Chocolate" varieties known. Shape can vary radically. Those always available here in Southern California are the Habanero Orange variety, which is more wrinkly than the photo specimens.The name Habanero means "from Havana", but hot chilis have fallen out of favor in Cuba.

Habanero, Orange

Kpakpo Shito

This chili is very popular in Ghana, Africa, usually used green, but also sometimes red. They are quite wrinkled and often squat, very much the shape of the Habanero Orange chilis we have here in Southern California, but quite a bit smaller. They are also not nearly as hot (H8), similar to Cayenne or Thai Chilis. While one of the mildest Habaneros, they are described as having a unique spicy and fragrant taste. They are not currently available in North America. I have manged to get seeds (July 2022) and hope to have chilis fairly soon.   Photo by SandisterTei distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike v3.0 Unported.

Salad Pepper

Basically these are medium size Bell Peppers, same as ours, and are generally used green (H0).   Subst:   None required, we have plenty of green bell peppers in North America, and even some medium size ones.

Red Bell Pepper

Many markets in Nigeria sell both squat and elongated Red Bell Peppers as "Tatashe". No less an expert than Flo Madubike states firmly this is not correct, and the two are not interchangeable in recipes. While both are mild peppers, the Tatashe has thinner walls and a flavor that is more intense and much more chili-like. Our Red Anaheims would probably be much closer than red bell peppers.

Scotch Bonnet

This chili is often confused with the Habanero, but is a different cultivar, though only in the Caribbean do people claim to be able to tell the difference. It is the same hotness (H10) as the Habanero, but with a somewhat sweeter and smokier flavor. In appearance, it is very rumpled. It got its name from a formerly common (now rare) variety in Jamaica that was of a flattened disk shape said to look like a Scottish hat. Today, due to the meddling of chili growers, they come in many shapes, colors and levels of hotness. The largest in the photo was 2 inches long, 1.4 inches diameter, and weighed 5/8 ounce.

Shombo Chili

Every market in Nigeria seems to have a different idea as to what a Shombo Chili is, but all pretty much agree it's red and hot. The chili that's shown most often is a long somewhat stout Cayenne type like those in the photo to the left, sometimes even called Cayenne. Others show long thin Cayenne peppers, and some show small pointed red chilis. Chilis of this type and shape are not much available in North America, so I suggest using the red chilis every ethnicity in Southern California seems to feel is fine for their cuisine, the Red Fresno Chili or the Thai Chili depending on the hotness you want.

Tatashe Pepper:

This is a large conical red pepper with low heat (H1-H2?), growing to 10 inches long. It is not available in North America, but our Red Anaheim peppers may be an acceptable substitute (perhaps a little hotter). In Nigeria it is often called "Red Bell Pepper", but reliable sources say that is definitely wrong and they are not interchangeable. The Tatashe, though similarly mild, has thinner walls and a more intense and more chili-like flavor. The confusion is so great some recipe writers, when they call for "Tatashe" add "the long pointed one". Also see Fresno Chili below.   Photo © LKA Cooperative in Nigeria, borrowed under Fair Use (non-commercial, non-competitive, small, otherwise not available).

Juanita Chili

this is a small, roughly spherical, fairly thick walled chili with rather moderate heat (H3). It is grown commercially in Limpopo province of South Africa. It originated in South America, but was discovered in South Africa on a property formerly owned by a botanist. Actual flavor is very similar to Red Bell Pepper, but with heat. The largest in the photo was 1.45 inches long x 1.22 inches diameter.

This pepper is best known in it's pickled form, produced by Peppadew International in South Africa and sold as Peppadew® Peppers. Details and Cooking

Fresno Chili

Not an African Chili. This chili has been found just fine by pretty much every ethnic community in Southern California. It is available in most ethnic markets, particularly Korean, Southeast Asian, and Latin American. I have seen it on European lists, so it is apparently invading there. It is quite hot (H4-5), but, can be easily and almost entirely disarmed by capping, splitting, and carefully removing the seed mass and the internal membranes. Thus disarmed it should be a fine substitute for the Tatashe Pepper (see above), though they are smaller so you need to use more of them. For details see our Fresno Chili page.

Serrano Chili

Not an African Chili. This is our "go-to" Chili for wherever "hot green chilis" are expected but not identified. Native to the mountains of Mexico, these have more flavor than hot green chilis in most of the world, but within reason. Serranos are fairly hot (about H6), but the heat can be much reduced if necessary, by removing the seed mass and membranes. They are usually used green with the seeds in. They can be up to 4.5 inches (11.5 cm) long and 0.8 inch (2 cm) diameter. The flesh is fairly thick, so they are not dried, though they are often pickled.

Jalapeño

Not an African Chili, but nearly all recipes from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia I have seen written in English call for Jalapeños. This Chili must satisfy the requirements of people who are "from there", so that's what I use for that region. Fresh green, 2 to 3 inches by 1 inch diameter, dark green with blunt tip, hotness H5-H6. The skin is dark green (or red), smooth and shiny but often has faint stretch marks (corking). Those with corking tend to be hotter. For details see our Jalapño, Chipotle & Morita Chilis page.

Thai Chilis - Prik Ki Nu

Not an African Chili. Thai Chilis are the chilis universally used as "small fresh chili", green or red, by all the ethnic communities here in Southern California. It is also displacing Bird Chilis in other parts of the world due to being easier to grow and harvest, so it's probably grown in Africa by now.

It is small, often less than 1-3/4 inches long as grown in Thailand, but there are many varieties and those grown in California are often up to 2-3/4 inches (more efficient to grow and harvest larger sizes). They are narrow, pointy and start growing point up, but turn downward as they reach full size. They turn from green to red when ripe (they may be somewhat orange in between). They are very hot ( H8 to H9), slightly less hot when red ripe, and a little less than that when dried. Fully red ripe prik ki nu dry very well. Those imported from Thailand tend to be hotter than if you dried those grown in California. Some minor varieties are black if in full sun, turning bright orange when ripe.