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.