Traditional Muboora – Nice vegetarian meal from Zimbabwe
Ingrediants
- 1 bunch muboora (pumpkin leaves)
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp pure vegetable oil
- 500 ml boiling water
- 2 tomatoes (chopped)
- 1/2 onion (chopped)
Quick Instructions
- With your muboora (pumpkin leaves) (1 bunch), tomatoes (2 tomatoes, chopped) and onions (1/2 onion, chopped) ready, begin washing your muboora (pumpkin leaves). Give them a thorough wash until you’r satisfied that it’s clean (I did this 4 times just to be sure! ) Break of part of the stem and pull of the silk from the pumpkin leaves. Do this one leaf at a time. In Shona we call this kufurura.
- After kufurura, cut your pumpkin leaves up. Put some water (500 ml boiling water) in a pot and add bicarbonate of soda (1 tsp). Close the pot and bring the water to a boil.
- Add your cut up pumpkin leaves to the boiling water and close the pot. Bring to the boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally in between. After 5 minutes drain your pumpkin leaves in a colander.
- Give your pot a quick rinse (do not rinse the pumpkin leaves) then return the pumpkin leaves to the pot. Add cooking oil (4 tbsp), salt (1 tsp), onions and tomatoes. Stir, reduce heat, close pot and let simmer until tomatoes and onions are cooked through (about 10 minutes).
- Your pumpkin leaves are done. Serve with sadza (pap) and your favourite relish or just as is. Enjoy!
(Source: www.zimbokitchen.com)
Super Foods
From kale to quinoa to goji berries, more and more of us are constantly on the lookout for ways to eat ourselves healthy. But as the search for the so-called “superfoods” intensifies, many health food fanatics are now increasingly turning to nutrient-packed products originating from Africa.
The latest craze is the baobab — known as “Africa’s superfood,” the sugar-free fruit is making its way into the mainstream thanks to its high levels of antioxidants, calcium, vitamin C and potassium.
But it’s not just the baobab. For millennia, the continent’s fertile lands have provided a bountiful supply of indigenous plants for food and medicine. Harnessing years of shared knowledge passed down through the generations, savvy foodies with an eye for business are now using local produce to create healthy dishes — and make a fortune in the process.
Rising in popularity, African superfoods are not just staying inside the continent’s borders. Shrewd business minds are taking them out of Africa and putting them in supermarkets across the world.
(Source: CNN)
Jollof Rice / West Africa
Cool RECIPE for this weekend:
Cooking Methods
Slow cooking is a customary method of preparing African food. Ingredients are placed in a pot and slowly heated over a fire.
Jollof Rice / West Africa
(cook in a 10 inch skillet)
2 Lb. cooked meat: chicken, shrimp, pork in:
1/2 Cup oil
In a separate soup kettle:
sauté in 1/4 C oil:
1/2 Cup each: chopped onions, green peppers
1/2 Tsp. grated ginger in
1/4 Cup oil until soft.
Add 1- 16 oz can whole stewed tomatoes.
simmer for 5 minutes.
Add:
12 oz tomato paste
2 quarts cup water
1 Tbl salt
1/2 tsp. each black pepper and thyme
1-2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes.
Add to this mix the cooked meat and simmer 20 minutes longer.
In a 2 quart saucepan cook:
2 C white rice in
5 C chicken stock
Combine the sauce with the rice, pour the Jollof Rice in a deep platter, arranging the meat in the center.