Africa → South Sudan → Juba
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Salata Aswad (South Sudanese Eggplant and Peanut Salad)
Fried eggplant simmered into onion, garlic and tomato paste, mashed soft and finished with peanut butter, cumin and lime, a warm, rich salad scooped up with kisra or bread.
South Sudanese · easy · serves 6
prep 15 min · cook 40 min
~189 cal · 3g protein · 14g carbs · 15g fat · 5g fiber · 7g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Salata aswad, "black salad" in Arabic, is the most common way South Sudanese cooks prepare eggplant, and it is a must at any feast. It is eaten across both Sudans, spread on , the thin flatbread, or on any soft bread.
The eggplant is sliced and fried in oil until deep brown and soft, then stirred into a base of sautéed onion, garlic and tomato paste and cooked down until it breaks apart. Peanut butter goes in at the end to make it creamy and rich, with cumin for warmth and a squeeze of lime to lift it and balance the eggplant's bitterness.
Some cooks add sweet pepper and fresh tomato, and one popular version, salata aswad be zabadi, is loosened with yogurt into a cooler, tangier dip.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
- 2 large (about 800 g) eggplants
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil, for frying, plus 1 tbsp
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp smooth peanut butter
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- 1Cut the eggplants into slices about 1 cm thick. Heat the 1/3 cup oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the slices in batches for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until deep brown and soft. Drain on paper.
- 2In a wide pan, heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil and cook the onion for 5 minutes until soft. Add the garlic for 1 minute, then stir in the tomato paste and half the water and simmer for 3 minutes until thickened.
- 3Roughly chop the fried eggplant and add it with the rest of the water. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring and mashing with the spoon, until most of it has broken down.
- 4Stir in the peanut butter and cumin until creamy, then take the pan off the heat and add the lime juice, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust.✎ Chef’s noteAdd the lime off the heat so it stays bright. It is there to balance the bitterness of the eggplant, so add a little more if the salad tastes flat.
- 5Serve warm or at room temperature with kisra or soft flatbread.
South Sudanese home tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Juba. Juba is the capital of the world's youngest nation, eating asida, a soft sorghum dough, with bean and meat stews poured over it. South Sudanese cooking uses peanut paste, okra, dried fish from the Nile, and greens simmered long.
🗺️
South Sudan. Cattle here are wealth, dowry and identity before they are meat, so milk and soured milk do more everyday work than beef does. Between the Nile and its tributaries the fish is abundant, dried and smoked as well as fresh, and the wetlands of the Sudd shape both the cattle year and what can be grown around it.
🌍
Africa. Much of what reads as timeless African cooking is younger than the Atlantic crossings. Maize, cassava, groundnut, chilli and tomato all arrived from the Americas after 1500 and pushed older crops aside; millet, sorghum, teff, yam and fonio are the ones that were already here, and the map still shows the join.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from South Sudan
WalwalThe Nilotic staple: sorghum or millet flour rolled by hand into couscous-like granules and boiled into a thick porridge, eaten with milk or thin yoghurt.
ComboSouth Sudanese greens in peanut sauce: leafy greens simmered with tomato and groundnut paste into a rich, creamy relish, eaten with rice.
KajaikFresh Nile fish simmered in a light tomato and onion stew, a staple lunch along South Sudan's rivers.
Browse all South Sudan recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Skillet or frying pan.
Storing it: Best assembled just before serving. Prep the components ahead and dress at the last moment so it stays crisp.
Make it a South Sudan meal
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Kuindiong (Semolina Pudding)Dessert
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Salata Aswad (South Sudanese Eggplant and Peanut Salad)?
Fried eggplant simmered into onion, garlic and tomato paste, mashed soft and finished with peanut butter, cumin and lime, a warm, rich salad scooped up with kisra or bread.
Where does Salata Aswad (South Sudanese Eggplant and Peanut Salad) come from?
Salata Aswad (South Sudanese Eggplant and Peanut Salad) is a South Sudanese dish from Juba, South Sudan.
Can Salata Aswad (South Sudanese Eggplant and Peanut Salad) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Salata Aswad (South Sudanese Eggplant and Peanut Salad) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Salata Aswad (South Sudanese Eggplant and Peanut Salad) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Salata Aswad (South Sudanese Eggplant and Peanut Salad) take to make?
About 55 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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