HAPPY AFRICA DAY!!!

Hey Africans!
Today is 25 May and Africans everywhere in the world are celebrating this day because belongs to us. There is no other continent that has a public holiday specifically to celebrate the continent. Ain't no America day, nor Asia day, nor Europe day neither does Australia. Hope you be cooking some African meals all around the continent.
Here are 3 dishes served in Nigeria, Mozambique and DRC.
Nigeria has such a variety of people and cultures that it is difficult to pick one national dish. Each area has its own regional favorite that depends on customs, tradition, and religion. But jollof rice is a delicacy and that's the dish I have chosen from Nigeria.

Jollof Rice

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons tomato paste
• 1½ cups cooked rice
• 1 green chili, seeded and chopped (green pepper can be substituted)
• 1 cup meat or vegetable stock

Instructions

1. Cook the rice according to package directions.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion until soft, but not browned.
3. Add the tomato paste and chili and cook on medium heat while stirring, about 2 minutes.
4. Add the rice and continue stirring.
5. Add the stock and bring the mixture to a boil.
6. Reduce heat to medium and cook until almost all of the stock has evaporated. Serve with fried chicken.

The cuisine of Mozambique revolves around fresh seafood, stews, corn porridge (maize meal), arroz (rice), millet (a type of grain), and mandioca (cassava). Meats such as bifel (steak) and frango (chicken) are often accompanied by beans, cassava chips, cashew nuts, coconut, batata (potatoes), and a variety of spices, including garlic and peppers (a Portuguese influence). Matata , a seafood and peanut stew, is a typical local dish.

Matata (Seafood and Peanut Stew)

Ingredients

• 1 cup onions, finely chopped
• Olive oil (vegetable oil may be substituted)
• 4 cups canned clams, chopped
• 1 cup peanuts, finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes, cut into small pieces
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste
• 1½ pounds fresh, young spinach leaves, finely chopped
• 2 cups cooked white rice

Intructions

1. Sauté onion pieces in a small amount of olive oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook until onions are softened, but do not brown them.
2. Add the chopped clams, peanuts, tomatoes, salt, black pepper, and a pinch amount of red pepper (it is spicy).
3. Over low heat, simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Add spinach leaves.
5. Cover tightly; as soon as leaves are withered, matata is ready to be served.
6. Serve with cooked white rice.

Congolese cuisine is built upon grains, tubers, vegetables and, to a lesser extent, meat. Due to its year-round availability, cassava is a common ingredient in Congolese cooking. Although meats aren't regularly eaten, this goat stew is a traditional Congolese recipe and boasts a surprisingly Italian flavor.

Goat stew

Ingredients 

• 2 kg goat meat (ask butcher to cut it into pieces with the bone)
• 4 spring onions, roughly chopped
• salt
• water
• 2 tbsp oil
• 4 tomatoes, chopped
• 4 onions, sliced
• 2 capsicums, chopped
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp basil
• 500 g jar crushed tomatoes
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• Crushed peppercorns, to taste
• 2 litres stock (goat stock and vegetable stock)

Instructions

1. Place chunks of meat and bone in a large pot with the spring onions, salt to taste and about 6 cm of water.
2. Bring to the boil and simmer with the lid on for approximately 40 minutes.
3. Pour off liquid and keep for stock.
4. Add oil to saucepan and brown the meat quickly.
5. Add chopped onions, tomatoes, capsicum, oregano, and basil to the meat.
6. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste.
7. Season with cracked pepper and salt to taste.
8. Pour over enough of the reserved stock to cover meat and cook for a further 30 minutes.

Please note that I personally have not tried these dishes but with the help of Google ;) this is what I came up with. Enjoy the rest of this special day for Africans. Watch out for more African cuisine!

some sadza making....

Mealie-meal Cake (chimodho)

Ingredients

• 1 cup mealie-meal
• 4 cups milk
• 2 eggs, beaten ¾ cup butter or margarine
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup sour cream

Instructions

1. Measure milk into a saucepan and bring just to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
2. Add eggs, ½ cup butter or margarine, and sugar to the in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.
3. Add cornmeal, stirring constantly to prevent lumps.
4. Return to low heat and continue cooking for 20 minutes, or until thickened, stirring constantly to prevent sticking. Add vanilla extract and stir well.
5. Preheat oven to 175°C.
6. Melt remaining ¼ cup butter and pour into 8-inch cake pan. Swirl pan to coat bottom and sides.
7. Pour cornmeal mixture into pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until cake is golden brown. Cake is done when a toothpick is inserted into the middle of the cake and it comes out clean.
8. Remove cake from oven and cover top with sour cream.
9. Return to oven for 15 minutes, or until top is bubbly and lightly browned.
10. Serve cake while still warm.

Serve 12 to 16.

I just had to post this collage. I stole this pic on IG (sorry).

See how every plate of sadza has greens on it?! Proudly Zimbo! Enjoy your sadza this evening! :)

Hope I find you well.

I'm going on about relishes to serve with sadza for VEGETARIANS...I'm so excited because one of the recipes is one of my favorite. Derere, okra, idelele. This is the first one I'm going to unravel. 

1. Derere (okra) is another Zimbabwean delicate. If you have never eaten derere, you will either love it or hate it. Some people cannot even stand to look at it. I love it because it is one of the few things that you don’t add a drop of oil in and makes a very affordable and easy vegetarian meal to prepare.

Ingredients

• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• salt to taste
• 300g of derere (okra)
• 1 chopped tomato
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon pepper flakes

Instructions

1.     Slice derere (okra). Chop tomatoes and onions.

2.     Boil a ¼ cup of water and add salt and baking soda.

3.     Add all the vegetables to the sauce pan and reduce heat to medium.

4.     Bring to boil and start beating the vegetables slowly with a wooden spoon. The beating makes sure that the vegetables do not over flow. Do this for approximately ten minutes. The derere (okra) will start to change color as it cooks.

5.     Serve hot with a plate of sadza.

2. Next are mushrooms (hova). One can have mushrooms and sadza, rice or any staple food. You can have mushrooms at breakfast or just mushrooms alone. I am not much of a mushroom fan but I have a sister who loves mushroom so this recipe is especially for her to try with her sadza. And of cause for you all who love mushrooms!

Sauteed Mushroom and Onions

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 250g mushroom, sliced
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1.  Heat oil in a pan on medium. Add the sliced onion and fry until slightly caramelized.

2.     Add the mushrooms, saute until tender.

3.     Season with salt and pepper.

4.     Plate sadza first, put the mushrooms on the side or on the top of the mushrooms

3. Mufushwa (dried green leafy vegetables) is one of the traditional Zimbabwean dishes that though tastes good, doesn’t look really flattering…but anyway here goes…

Ingredients

·        1 bag mufushwa (about 2-3 cups)

·        4 cups of water

·        2 tomatoes, chopped

·        1 onion, sliced thinly

·        3-4 tablespoons natural peanut butter

·        Salt, to taste

Instructions

1. Bring the mufushwa and water to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 2½ hours, or until the mufushwa is mushy and there is no water left in the pot.

2. If the water is gone and the mufushwa still needs softening, add some more water and continue boiling. 

3. Sauté the tomatoes and onion in the peanut butter until soft. (You may need to add a little oil, depending on the oiliness of your peanut butter.)

4. Add this mixture to the cooked mufushwa, and season with salt. Serve hot with sadza.

4. Sugar Bean Curry

Ingredients

• 
  •     2 cups sugar beans (dry)
  •     1 1⁄2 onions chopped
  •    1 tablespoon Rajah Mild & Spicy Curry Powder
  •     2 tomatoes chopped
  •     1 green pepper chopped
  •     2 cups water
  •     1 Knorrox mutton stock cube

Instructions

1. Sort the sugar beans and soak in water overnight.

2 Boil in clean water for 1 hour or until soft and drain.

3. In a pot, brown the onion in oil.

4. Add Rajah Mild & Spicy Curry Powder and simmer for 2 minutes.

5. Add the remaining ingredients and the beans turn down the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

6. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with sadza.

I hope you enjoy these dishes as much as I do.

Relishes

Today I’m giving you 3 relish recipes to serve with your sadza. Remember, sadza can be eaten with anything. In Zimbabwe it is mostly served with greens and a meat dish. The greens can be cabbage, pumpkin leaves (muboora), chomolia or mustard greens (tsunga) and the protein is chicken, fish, kapenta, amacimbi and almost everything found on a cow!

Since we have the basic sadza recipe, here is one of my favorite relishes: mazondo (cow foot). It tastes better when saved with tsunga and the combination of the two brings out the authentic traditional flavors that were enjoyed with our ancestors years ago.

The cow feet are not skinned because the skin is the meat. There are two methods of cleaning the feet. The best method, at least for me, is to pour boiling water on the feet and use a knife to shave the hair of the hide. Alternatively you can place the feet on hot flames. It works but can you imagine hair burning. Then you have to remove the hooves which can be tricky and cut the feet into pieces which your butcher can do or use an axe.

The foot takes a long time to cook because it’s mostly the hide that will cook and they are most definitely an acquired taste. The best cow feet do not have too many flavors added to them.

Mazondo and tsunga

Ingredients

·         3 lb cow feet

·         1 onion, chopped

·         2 cloves garlic

·         Mustard greens

·         Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1.     Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and add three cups water and bring to boil on medium high heat.

2.     Simmer for at least three hours and add more water as needed

3.     Chop mustard greens and add to cow foot. Cook to your liking and serve with sadza.

2. maguru (tripe) are among Zimbabwe’s top favored traditional food. It is important to wash your tripe THOROUGHLY first and cut off excess fat before cooking. You don’t want the whole house smelling of cow dung when cooking so wash it in warm water or with running water. Trimming off the fat prevents the tripe from emulsifying (kugwamba) from both in the pot and on the plate when eating.

Maguru nemuriwo (tripe and chomolia greens)

Ingredients

·         1 kg tripe

·         1 onion, chopped

·         2 cloves garlic, chopped

·         Small lemon wedge

·         Salt and pepper to taste

·         3 medium tomatoes

·         ¼ tsp curry powder

·         ½ bundle chomolia/covo

·         oil

Instructions

1.     Cut tripe into medium sized pieces and put into pot

2.     Add enough water to just cover the tripe. Add salt, lemon wedge and garlic.

3.     Bring to the boil then reduce to the lowest possible heat. Simmer until tripe is tender and cooked through. Discard lemon wedge and excess water

4.     Add oil. Increase heat and fry for 3 minutes. Add onion and curry powder. Fry until onion is cooked.

5.     Add the tomato and cook for a further 3 minutes. Add the chopped vegetables, salt and pepper and allow them to cook. Serve with sadza.

3. Kapenta is a type of tiny sardine fish which can be eaten dry or fresh.

Ingredients

• 500 grams dried Kapenta
• 1 large tomato
• 1 medium onion
• 200mls cooking oil
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Put water in a medium pot. Allow the water to get warm over some medium heat. Remove the pot from the heat.
2. Put the Kapenta in a bowl and pour in the warm water. Wash the Kapenta twice. Drain the water after washing.
3. Put oil in a sauce pan and place it on the fire (stove).
4. When the oil is hot, pour the Kapenta into the sauce pan. Fry for 20 minutes stirring after every 5 minutes.
5. Grate the onion and tomato then later add to the Kapenta and allow cooking for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes stir and make sure the ingredients are well mixed.
6. Add salt to taste. Cover and allow cooking again for 5 minutes.
7. Remove from heat source and allow cooling. Serve with sadza.

sadza with matemba and muriwo

Now that I've given you my ideas, you can go ahead and Do It Yourself. You will be surprised you are going to enjoy it!

Hey! Do you know how to prepare just ONE Zimbabwean dish? You don't know what to prepare for your grandmother when she comes to visit? Or your old-fashioned parents? Or your difficult mother-in-law? Don't worry because you are just at the right place. 

This is not only for the ladies trying to impress, but also for the men who value Zimbabwean food and likes preparing their own meals. Not only am I dishing out recipes for Zim-cuisine, I am giving you guys quick and easy recipes for meals from all over the world!

First things first, Zimbabwe’s national dish is sadza. Every woman in the country should be able to cook sadza and cook it to perfection. Sadza to the Zimbabweans is like rice to the Chinese, or pasta to Italians. In fact, sadza re masikati or “sadza of the afternoon” simply means lunch. Sadza re manheru or “sadza of the evening” means dinner. Sadza is made from cornmeal or maize, and eaten with relish. Relish can be any kind of vegetable stew, beef, chicken, cow foot (mazondo) and sometimes beans.

Here are two basic Sadza recipes:

Sadza

Ingredients

·         4 cups water

·         2½ cups white cornmeal (regular cornmeal may be used)

Procedure

1.     Put mealie-meal in pot. Add cold water to make a paste.

2.     Keep stirring until rakukwata (it's boiling). Cover pot, reduce heat and let it simmer for 15 minutes.

3.  After 15 minutes, gradually add more mealie-meal and as we say it in our vernacular, mona sadza (mix). Be sure to do it well. When its about to reach the consistency you want, cover it and let it simmer (kushinyira)

OR

1.     Bring 3 cups of the water to a boil in a large pot.

2.     Combine 1½ cups of the cornmeal with the remaining 1 cup water.

3.     Reduce heat to medium to low and add the cornmeal mixture to the boiling water, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Cook for about 5 minutes.

4.     Slowly adding the remaining 1 cup of cornmeal. When the mixture is very thick and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, transfer to a serving bowl or plate.

5.     Use a wooden spoon to shape the mixture into a round shape.

6.     You may use wet hands to help shape the sadza.

Serves 4 to 6.

click here  to watch a video tutorial on how to make sadza