Recipe’s from and for Distinguished

This page contains many recipes that have been chinga’ad from many folks.
I claim no responsibility for such actions, as hunger for good african food cannot be appeased legally.

Most of these recipes are best enjoyed with a group of your family and friends who appreciate such mangaa as much as you.
If they do not enjoy, then give them the spiciest food and the hottest cup of chai, so that their hands and mouths are burned.

HOW TO MAKE CHAPO’S(Chapati’s)
Contributed to the RVA Alumni Site by Pam Johnson (Hersman), and shamelessly theived to arrive on this page.

Is there anything that you can’t eat with a chapati? They are probably my favorite food. Of course, good nyama choma is the ultimate in succulent bliss. But where would nyama choma be without the chapati? The following is the best chapati recipe I’ve found. Beware…once you make these for people you’ll ALWAYS be the one in charge of chapati-making.

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups white flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/3 cups warm water

1/2 cup shortening

Directions:

1. Mix flour and salt together

2. Cut in shortening with fork

3. Make a well in the center, pour in half the water. Mix with a wooden spoon, gradually adding the remainder fo the water until firm but soft dough forms. Continue kneading with your hands.

4. Divide dough into 8 balls. Roll out each ball with a rolling pin until you have a circle that’s about 1/8 inch thick and 7-9 inches in diameter.

5. Coat the surface of each rolled out chapati with a thin layer of margarine.

6. Roll up the circle of dough so it looks like a sausage. Coil the “sausage” up like a cinnamon roll.

7. Roll out each “cinnamon roll” with a rolling pin to make a circle that’s about 1/8 inch thick and 7-9 inches in diameter (just like step #4).

8. Smear a skillet with oil. Using a low heat, brown the chapatis on both sides until golden brown.

Keep warm until served.

HOW TO MAKE UJI
Again, contributed to the RVA Alumni Site by Jeff Davis, and shamelessly theived to arrive on this page.

Ugali was never a favorite meal of mine (along with several other cafeteria dishes from RVA!), but I really did love uji. For those who don’t know what it is, it’s comparable to cream of wheat..sort of. I have great memories of having uji, usually in the smoky hut of a Pokot village, and it always tasted so good.

There are different ways to make uji, but this is generally the way I do it (I don’t really use measurements when I make this):

Bring water and/or milk to boil (I prefer milk)

Stir in some corn meal, or “posho”..not too much or it will get too thick

Add sugar and/or salt to taste (marjarine or shortening, i.e. Kimbo, is also an option for those not concerned w/ fat calories)

For added effect, cook in an old “sufuria” & serve in a metal cup from Uchumi!

HOW TO MAKE CHAI (Bush-stylo)
Finally an original contribution by Swoosh, however even his knowledge was given oral tradition from his predecessors.

Chai, it is the blood of life! There are truly different ways and substitutes for arrive good chai.
But bush chai can be made only one way.

1. Shika a nice fire.

2. Arrive thick UHT milk in a bent and burnt pot, coconut shell, or metal can.

3. Allow milk to heat on the fire, and after 3 minutes or the time it takes to have one moso, add the ground tea (Amount of tea should be enough to cover the surface of the milk a deep brown colour.

4. Stir with a burnt stick from the fire (this allows a nice smokey flavour to infiltrate the milk).

5. After half of another moso, or about 1 minute, shika sugar, about 3 or 4 times the amount of tea that was added.
Chai must be made sweet so that the lips stick together!

6. Arrive to boiling, remove from fire and pour into metal or glass cups with no insulation.
Sometimes ash and other things may get into the pot. This is ok, for flavour knows no boundries.

7. Drink readily, and add more sugar as needed.

Special Note: The best tea is Chombe (from Malawi) and the best mik is UHT (from Kenya), however substitutes may be used, to lesser satisfaction.

African Peanut Chicken Stew

2 chickens, cut into pieces
3/4 cup peanut oil
2 large onions, chopped
3 tomatoes
4 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 teaspoon Vegesal (or salt)
1 cup peanut butter
3 sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
6 carrots, thickly sliced in rounds
12 okra pods
3 bell peppers (red/green/yellow/orange), de-seeded and diced
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or 1 chili pepper
In a large heavy pot, brown chicken in hot peanut oil. Add 1 chopped onion and stir until golden brown. Peel tomatoes if you wish, then chop into chunks. Thin tomato paste with 1/2 cup of water, and add tomatoes and tomato paste to the pot.
Boil 4 cups of water and add to the pot with the vegesal (salt). While the mixture boils gently, thin peanut butter with some of the hot pot liquid and stir it in gradually. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Begin adding vegetables, letting each simmer for 5 minutes or so before adding the next one. Cook until chicken and all the vegetables are tender. Crush or grind the second onion with the hot pepper. Add during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Maandazi
· 2 cup flour
· 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
· 4 tablespoons sugar
· 2 Pinch salt
· 2 egg
· 1/2 cup water
· oil
Makes about 4 dozen
Sift flour and baking powder together. Add sugar and salt.
Beat egg well and add water. Stir egg wixture into flour and mix until soft dough is formed. Add more water if necessary.
Knead dough in the bowl until smooth but not sticky. Dough should leave the sides of the bowl cleanly. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place about 30 minutes. Roll out dough on a floured board until 1/2-inch thick. Cut into squares, strips, or triangles. Fry in deep fat until golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper.

Samosas
· 1 inch piece ginger root
· 6 cloves garlic
· 2 pounds ground lean lamb (or beef if desired)
· 3 large onions, thinly sliced
· 1 tablespoon mussala
· 1 tablespoon curry powder
· 1 tablespoon turmeric
· Salt to taste
· 2 pounds frozen egg-roll dough, thawed
· Flour
· Oil
Makes 80 servings
Process ginger and garlic in blender until well mashed. Combine with meat, onions, mussala, curry powder, and turmeric. Sauté in a heavy frying pan, without adding any fat, over a low heat 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking up the meat. Spoon off fat.
Cut sheets of thawed egg-roll dough into strips about 3 by 6 inches. Fold one point up to form a triangular pocket. Fold over again, and then fill the pocket with some of the meat mixture.
Bring down the top and seal all open sides with a paste made of flour and water. You should end up with a neat, secure triangle of meat-stuffed pastry.
Deep-fat fry filled samosas, a few at a time, in oil, until golden brown. Drain and keep warm.
After frying and quick cooling, samosas may be frozen. To serve, thaw and place in a hot oven (400 deg. F) until very hot.

Ugali/Nsima/Sudza
(Eaten by most tribes in Kenya) - Courtesy of Dengu
· Maize (White Corn Flour) about 2 cups
· Water
· Salt (Optional)
· One also needs a Mwiko
A note on the flour: I have never found flour that approximates the type that we have in Kenya (Jogoo) and the closest substitution I have found is one I buy in the Mexican store that goes by the name “Mozerapa”
Bring water in a pan to a boil (about 4 Cups)
Reduce heat to medium and put flour, gradually stirring until the consistency is stiff. Stir continously, and cover for about 5 minutes.
Stir again and form into a mound. The ugali will be done when it pulls from the sides of the pan easily and does not stick. The finished product should look like stiff grits
Cover the pot with a plate and invert the pan so that the Ugali “drops” on the plate.
Serve with meat stew.

Beef Stew
· 1 lb. beef [not ground] i.e. Cut meat
· 2 carrots
· 2 green peppers
· 4 tomatoes
· 4 onions
· Coriander
· Curry powder
· Black pepper
· Seasoning salt, Crisco cooking oil, salt
Fry the onions that have been chopped until they turn brown. Add tomatoes and chopped green pepper. Add carrots, black pepper and coriander. Wash the cut meat and sprinkle it with seasoning salt. When the carrots have become slightly soft add the cut meat. When meat is almost cooking add some curry powder and salt to taste.

Mahamri
Mahamri and Maandazi are cousins, as both are fried doughs. Mahamri is more exotic and tastier (my opinion) and very popular along the Kenyan Coast.
· 3 and 3/4 cups white flour
· 2 cups Sugar
· 2 teaspoons butter
· 1 teaspoon yeast diluted in a little warm water
· 1 1/4 cup milk (or you can combine one cup coconut milk, and 1/4 cup milk or plain yoghurt)
· 1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cardamon seeds (you could also use cardamon powder but the fresh seeds are preferred)

Method
In a bowl, sift the flour and sugar together, add cardamon seeds and mix the dry ingredients. Rub in the butter. In another bowl, mix the liquids (yoghurt, milk, cocounut milk, and yeast and water mixture) Make a hole in the dry ingredients and pour in the liquids, stirring and making a dough that is not too stiff (you can use the bread machine to knead dough). The dough should be smooth. Wrap in saran wrap or wet cloth and leave in a warm place to rise for 3-4 hours until the dough has doubled in size. Put dough in a floured board and cut into 4-6 balls. Roll out the balls into circles and cut into desired shapes (diamond shapes or triangles e.t.c.) Leave the cut shapes covered with a warm cloth or plastic wrap for about 1-2 hours. Heat cooking oil in a fryer, pan or sufuria until hot. Test for readiness by dipping a small piece of dough. It should puff up and rise to the surface. Fry your mahamris and drain on a paper towel. Serve with tea, as a snack or even accompaniment to the main meal. Enjoy!

Dengu
a form of Sukuma Wiki
4 servings
Ingredients
· cupful greens
· cupfuls milk
· medium sized onions
· spoonfuls ghee or butter 1/2 cupful cooking oil
· salt and curry powder to taste
Method
1. Clean and wash green grams. Place in pot, cover with water and boil until very tender. If more water needed, add only boiling water.
2. Remove from heat and beat until smooth. It will turn into a paste.
3. Put green gram paste into a bowl and heat cooking oil in same pot.
4. Clean and dice onions. Add onions to oil and fry until cooked and nicely brown.
5. Return the green gram paste to the pot and mix with onion.
6. Add curry powder, salt and milk and simmer for 10 minutes.
7. Add butter or ghee and simmer for another 5 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and place in clean dish with cover.
Serve hot with boiled rice, boiled sweet potatoes, steamed plantain, boiled cassava, or ugali made from maize flour.

Sukuma Wiki

1 lb. Sukuma wiki, kale, or spinach
3 chopped tomatoes
2 chopped onions
Leftover meats (optional)
3 tablespoons oil
Salt
Pepper

Fry onions in oil in large pan. Add tomatoes and any leftover meat. Cook together until tomatoes are soft. Cook chopped spinach. Add spinach to onion mixture and cook over low heat 20 minutes. Season to taste. Serves 4.

Tanzania Chicken

1 stewing hen
1 14-oz. Can tomatoes
1 chopped onion
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp garlic powder
½ tsp. Chili powder
½ tsp curry powder
Salt and pepper

Cut up chicken and cook, keeping meat on bones. Mix together all remaining ingredients. (Adjust spices to taste) Pour over chicken and simmer together. You can also add a bit of tomato paste and sugar. Thicken a bit. Serve on rice.

Garam Masala, Indian style
A spice mixture, called for in some recipes

1 - 2″ long cinnamon stick
2 Tbsp cumin seeds
2 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp cardamom pods, shelled
1 tsp whole cloves
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tsp ground turmeric

Dry roast all of the spices in a heavy skillet over med.-high heat. The whole process should take about 10 minutes. Let cool. Transfer spices to a grinder and blend until smooth. Store in an airtight jar.

More Samosas

1 large pack egg roll wrappers
1 lb. Ground beef or lamb
1 cooked medium potato (I toss in leftover mashed sometimes)
¼ cup cooked green peas
1 med. Onion, grated
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ inch piece fresh ginger, grated (I just use it, already ground, from the
bottle!)
2 teaspoons curry powder (remember, curry here is a lot weaker then Kenya -
add to taste)
½ tsp. Chili powder
¼ tsp. Turmeric
1 tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. Black pepper
2 tbsp. Butter
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped - or mint (I skip this)

Mix the filling ingredients except the butter, lemon juice and chopped herbs and fry in the butter until just cooked through. Sprinkle on approx. 2 tbsp of water and increase the heat until the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice and herbs. Stir well and leave to cool.

Cut the egg roll wrappers into 1 ¾ inch strips. To prepare the samosas using egg roll wrapper strips, turn one end over to make a triangular shaped pocket, then turn again in the opposite direction. Fill the cavity with a spoonful of the cooked filling and continue folding until the whole strip has been used and a triangular shaped pastry results. Seal the end with water or a paste made from flour and water.

Heat oil for deep frying to fairly hot and fry the samosas, several at a time, until golden and crisp. Serve hot with fresh mint chutney.

Even more Samosa

Use eggroll casings for pastry.

Filling:
1 pound ground meat
½ pound onions, chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon red pepper

Brown meat; add remaining ingredients, and cook together.

Form triangular cups with pastry. Seal edge with paste of flour and water. Fill with meat filling. Fold top over and seal. Be sure there are no open corners, or you’ll lose you filling during frying. The puff will be triangular. Fry in moderately hot deep fat until brown and crisp. Serve warm and fresh, with a wedge of lemon to be squeezed on it.

more Chapatis #2

2 cups flour
¾ - 1 cup water
¼ teaspoon salt
Melted butter

Mix all ingredients together; divide into fourths. Roll each into a circle; spread thinly with melted butter. Roll up like a small jellyroll and then roll it into a coil. Roll flat again. Fry in a hot heavy skillet until brown on both sides. They do not brown very well in a Teflon coated pan.

Even one more Samosas

To keep cooking time low, I recommend using egg roll wrappers as a substitute for actual samosa pastry dough, which is also time-consuming to prepare.

Ingredients:

4-5 medium Potatoes, boiled in the skin and cooled
4 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
1 medium Onion, peeled and very finely chopped
1 cup of Peas, fresh or frozen
1 Tbsp. Ginger (fresh, minced)
1 fresh Green Chili Pepper, finely chopped
3 Tbsp. Water
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. ground Coriander
1 tsp. Garam Masala (an Indian spice mixture)
1 tsp. Cumin
1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice 3 Tbsp. fresh Cilantro/Coriander/Parsley (whatever you can get)
One package of Egg Roll Wrappers

Peel the potatoes and dice them into quarter-inch cubes. Heat the oil in a frying pan and put the onions into it. Fry them until they begin to turn brown at the edges. Add the peas, ginger, chili pepper, fresh coriander, and water. Cover the frying pan, lower the heat to simmering, and simmer until the peas are cooked, stirring occasionally. Add water if needed to keep the mixture from drying out. Add the potatoes, salt, etc., and mix. Cook on low heat for 3-4 minutes. Let the mixture cool slightly, so that it can be easily handled. Stuff the egg roll wrappers with the filling and deep fry to a golden brown.

Biriani
Another dish that originated from the Kenya Coast.

1 kg. Meat ( mutton leg, a lean cut of beef, goat or chicken)
1 kg. Rice
1 kg. Onions
1 kg. Potatoes
1 medium size unripe pawpaw
300 ml. (1.5 cups) sour milk or yogurt
2 limes
1/4 kg. Tomatoes
1 small bulb of garlic
Small piece of fresh green ginger
4 cardamom pods
4 cloves
2 small sticks cinnamon
1 teaspoon each of cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and whole black peppercorns
Oil for frying
1 smallest size tin tomato paste

Peel pawpaw, remove seeds, and grate coarsely. Pound the garlic and ginger to a paste. Cut the meat into biggish pieces and put into a heavy saucepan with the pawpaw and garlic and ginger. Add the sour milk or yogurt, and the juice of the two limes. Set over a low heat and stir at intervals. Whilst this is cooking, grind all the spices together and set aside. Slice the onions and fry in oil until brown and crisp. Remove from the fat. Peel and slice the potatoes and fry in the same oil until golden brown. Remove and keep on one side - apart from the onions. Check the meat to see if it is nearly ready, then add the spices and the skinned tomatoes together with 4-5 tablespoons of the fat used to fry the onions and potatoes. Mix together well, then add the tin of tomato paste. Continue cooking over low heat until the meat is really tender and the sauce thick and creamy. It is almost certain you will have to add a little warm water before the meat is cooked. Cook for a final 15 - 20 minutes to make sure all the flavours have blended together.

Prepare and cook the rice. Put a good layer of the rice at the bottom of a fireproof dish or casserole. Pour over the meat mixture, and cover completely with another layer of rice. Now put in the fried onions, reserving a few for decoration, and cover them with the rest of the rice. Boil up the remaining oil and pour over. Take the sliced potatoes and tuck them at the edge of the dish, and across the top, pushing them into the rice. Sprinkle with the reserved onions about 30 minutes. Do not let it become dry. Biriani can be served at table in the casserole if it is decorative one, or else you will have to remove the meat and the vegetables keeping the layers as cooked and serve on a big platter.

Omena Fish Stew

Omena is a small 2-inch long fish found in Lake Victoria in Western Kenya. In North America this dried fish is sold in Cambodian- or South East Asia - owned grocery stores.

3 cups dried fish (Omena)
4 cups water
1/2 cup cooking oil
1/2 kilo tomatoes
2 large onions chopped
Salt to taste
2 cups milk

Wash the fish in cold water. Place in a pan and simmer gently in 4 cups of water until the water is nearly evaporated. Drop the tomatoes into boiling water, take them out and peel. Chop the tomatoes. In a frying pan heat the oil. Stir in the onions and tomatoes and cook gently until soft. Add the cooked fish and salt. Stir gently taking care not to crush the fish. Add the milk and simmer for about 30 minutes. The milk forms the gravy. Serve with ugali or rice.

(Ngege or other tasty fish; the best is Chombo, found only in Lake Malawi)

1. Place a fresh Ngege on a cutting board (at a 45 degree angle) . Take a large kitchen knife and scrape off the scales. Cut the fish’s belly and remove all the contents. Rinse thoroughly in warm water.
2. Season the fish with a pinch of plain salt (no sugar or any other variety spice just yet)
3. Heat a quart of oil in a flat pan till the temperature reaches 350 degrees F.
4. Place the fish in the pan and heat in oil till it turns a golden brown.
5. Cut onions, garlic and a teaspoon of oil into a hot sufuria (pan)
6. After the onions turn brown, open a can of tomato paste (Hunt’s) and empty it into the sufuria.
7. Add three glasses of water to the broth. Add a little Cajun’s seasoning, Paprika and coconut milk.
8. Place each fish gently on the Sufuria and cover. Bring to a boil and remove after 30 minutes.
9. The fish is best served with Ugali (no salt please…-), Sukuma wiki, cabbages or any other vegetable.

Pineapple Rum Sauce
Yield: 1 quart sauce mixtureIn a 1-quart sauce pan:

Simmer: 1 cup PINEAPPLE JUICE (canned) and 1 cup SUGAR until it dissolves and a syrup is formed.

Add 1/2 cup WHITE RUM. Cool.

In a 2-quart bowl:

Cut 3 cups FRESH PINEAPPLE in 1/2-inch dice.

Pour the Pineapple Rum Sauce over the pineapple.

Marinate for several hours.

Place 1 scoop MANGO ICE CREAM in a 6-oz. wineglass.

Top with 3 to 4 oz. PINEAPPLE RUM MIXTURE

Garnish with 1 Tbs. PISTACHIO NUTS, coarsely chopped.

Spicy Fried Plantains
2-3 well-ripened yellow plantains
4-5 cups of oil for deep frying
1 level tsp. ground hot, red pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
thumb-size piece of fresh ginger, chopped; or
1 level tsp. ground ginger (ground ginger does not give the dish as full a taste)
salt to taste

2-3 well-ripened yellow plantains4-5 cups of oil for deep frying1 level tsp. ground hot, red pepper1 medium onion, chopped1 garlic clove, choppedthumb-size piece of fresh ginger, chopped; or1 level tsp. ground ginger (ground ginger does not give the dish as full a taste)salt to tasteIncrease ingredients by 1/4 when adding more plantains to the recipe.

Peel plantains, cut into one-inch pieces, wash, and place in a bowl. Blend pepper, chopped ginger, chopped onion, and chopped garlic. Add blended spices to the bowl with the cut plantains. Coat plantains well with the mixed spices. Deep-fry pieces of spicy plaintain in hot oil until golden brown.
Serve after the main course as a dessert. Servings: 4