Recipe
🍰 DESSERT
Galidossi (Gari and Milk Dessert)
Crunchy cassava gari soaked in cold sweet milk with roasted peanuts, a refreshing Togolese street dessert.
Togolese · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 0 min
~439 cal · 12g protein · 58g carbs · 18g fat · 4g fiber · 22g sugars · 4g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Galidossi, also called dossi, is a cool, crunchy Togolese dessert that is close to an institution in Lomé. , the toasted, slightly sour granules that are a pillar of Togolese cooking, are soaked in cold sweetened milk until they swell to a pleasant chew, then finished with crushed roasted peanuts and plenty of ice.
Once written off as the end-of-month meal of broke students, it has grown into a treat eaten across the generations, sold in little bags on the street and mixed up at home in minutes. The pleasure is all in the contrast: crunchy , creamy milk, nutty peanuts, and the refreshing cold of it in the coastal heat.
Endlessly adaptable, some add condensed milk for richness, some a spoon of chocolate or a dab of yogurt, but the , milk and peanut heart of it never changes. It is Togolese street food at its most simple and satisfying.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, 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 4
1 1/2 cups (toasted granules)
2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup roasted peanuts, crushed
1/2 cup cold water
a handful ice cubes, to serve
Instructions
1
Stir the sugar into the milk with the cold water until it dissolves, tasting for sweetness.
2
Put the gari in bowls and pour the sweet milk over it, then leave it to stand for 5 to 10 minutes so the granules swell and soften.
✎ Chef’s note
Add the milk just before eating and do not oversoak. Gari left too long turns pasty, whereas a short soak keeps a lively chew.
3
Top each bowl with a generous spoonful of crushed roasted peanuts.
4
Drop in a few ice cubes and serve straight away, while it is cold and the gari still has bite.
Lomé street-food tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Lomé. Gboma is not spinach. It is the leaf of Solanum macrocarpon, the African eggplant, and spinach is only the substitute cooks reach for elsewhere. The same dish is called shoko in Ghana and Benin, and akoume, the fermented maize dough it comes with, is also known as to.
🗺️
Togo. Togo is a narrow strip running from the Atlantic to the Sahel, and its food changes as you go up it. The coast has fish, coconut and cassava; the middle has yam and maize; the dry north turns to millet, sorghum and shea butter, and the same household dish shifts its starch accordingly rather than its logic.
🌍
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 Togo
Gboma DessiA rich Togolese spinach stew simmered with tomato, red palm oil, and beef or fish.
AyimolouA one-pot of rice and beans cooked together and served with a spicy pepper sauce, Togo's breakfast.
DjenkouméA savory red maize-meal paste cooked with tomato and palm oil, served with grilled chicken, a Togolese celebration favorite.
Browse all Togo recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Best straight off the heat. Leftovers keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated and reheat well in a hot oven rather than the microwave.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Galidossi (Gari and Milk Dessert)?
Crunchy cassava gari soaked in cold sweet milk with roasted peanuts, a refreshing Togolese street dessert.
Where does Galidossi (Gari and Milk Dessert) come from?
Galidossi (Gari and Milk Dessert) is a Togolese dish from Lomé, Togo.
Can Galidossi (Gari and Milk Dessert) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Galidossi (Gari and Milk Dessert) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Galidossi (Gari and Milk Dessert) 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 count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), 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 Galidossi (Gari and Milk Dessert) take to make?
About 15 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 0 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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