Special Cooking recipes

Some special insects such as white ants, grasshopper and locusts were are a delicacy among some communities in Africa.

The insects were boiled in salty water, dried in the sun for preservation and then sold in the market places, or keep for future meals. It is believed to add memory and enrich the brain to function optimally.


Fried Locusts
Ingredients

• 4 cupfuls of 1-2 day old locusts or grasshoppers
• 2 cupfuls of water
• Traditional salt to taste
• 1 cup of ghee or butter

Method

1. Remove wings and limbs fro each insect.
2. Pit insects in a strong pan and add salt and water
3. Cook slowly for about 30 minutes or until soft
4. Boil quickly till the water evaporates
5. Reduce the heat and add half of the butter
6. Fry on a slow fire until insects become crisp.
7. Add the remaining butter and cook for 6 minutes.
8. Remove from the fire and serve hot with ugali or matoke (plantain)
9. Serve for 3 people

Fried White Ants

Ingredients

• 1 cupful 1-2 old white ants
• Tradition salt to taste
• 1/2 cupful of water
• 2 spoonfuls ghee or butter

Preparation

1. Clean white ants by removing wings and soil
2. Put insects in pot and add water and salt
3. Boil quickly for about 12 minutes until all water has evaporated
4. Reduce heat and add butter
5. Cover the pot to allow butter to soak in
6. Remove from the fire and serve with ugali or steamed matoke (plantain)
7. Serve for 3 people

A special type of ant known as Onyoso in Luo could be used in place of white ants. These insects are seasoned insects which are found during the rainy season in certain time of the year. A special type of green grasshopper known in Luganda as senene is areal delicacy in Kampala. These seasoned insects come in swarms and are seen round the streets lights at night. Tsitswa is a special termite delicacy by the Luhya community.

Cow Blood Cooking

Among the pastoral communities, cow blood forms a part of special Kenyan diet.

Cow Blood Cooked in Sour Milk

Ingredients

• 3 cupfuls of sour milk (2 days old)
• 3 cupfuls fresh blood
• 1 cupful butter or ghee
• traditional salt to taste (optional)

Preparation

1. Stir fresh blood and sieve to separate liquid from clot
2. Mix milk and liquid blood and then pour in a pan
3. Cook over slow fire, stirring to prevent burning for about 30-32 minutes.
4. Add butter and also traditional salt. The dish does not usually require salt due to sour milk.
5. Cover the pan and simmer for a further 10-12 minutes, stirring to prevent burning. The mixture should be thick like scrambled egg, but taste like cheese sauce
6. Remove from the fire and serve with ugali, sweet potatoes or steamed plantain
7. Serve 3-4 people

Offal recipes

Ingredients

• Goat or sheep internal organs; Also known as Mutura and Mahu in Kenya. Soft cuts from all parts of the animal and the blood from the slaughtered animal is selected.
• 1 cupful chopped onions
• salt and pepper to taste
• Wooden skewers

Preparation

1. Cut mutura in the middle in order to get 2 equal parts. Wash both parts and the two mahu to remove semi-digested chewed plants eaten by the animal. Put all 4 pieces of meat in a strainer to drain away water.
2. Chop meat into small pieces or mince if necessary and add onions, salt and pepper, and put in a pan
3. Cook meat in its own juice which comes out when heated, turning frequently to prevent burning
4. Cover the pan and cook for about 18-20 minuted, keep on turning to prevent burning
5. Add the fatty meat from which oil had been drained away, and mix well. Make sure that salt and pepper are enough
6. Remove meat from the fire add all the blood available and stuff the 4 pieces of meat with the mixture until all is used up.
7. With wooded skewers join together both ends of each piece of mutura and also the open parts of mahu holding on firmly to prevent the meat from falling off.
8. Roast or barbecue mutura and mahu very slowly over a low charcoal fire for about 2 hours, holding the meat with a bigger wooden skewer.
9. Prick the bags with a small wooden skewer to taste in order to make sure if the meat is ready. When the blood changes into meat juices and it comes out with steam, the meat is ready.
10. Remove from the fire and serve together with barbecue liver and kidney
11. This meal is extremely rich and satisfying so it does not require ugali or potatoes

Note:

a) Meat could be minced instead of chopped especially if they are the tougher cut of a cow's meat.

b) Small intestines of a cow could also be used in the same way as mutura, and it is called mara. Those of a goat or sheep, however are too small to be stuffed. They are barbecued and eaten as they are.

c) The above dish could be cooked in water instead of roasted but the favor would not be as tasty as the roasted one.

d) Instead of cutting it into pieces of  mutura could be stuffed whole

e) Instead of using skewers, mutura's ends could be tied with banana fibers or any other string, before roasting

Cow Blood Cooked in Fresh Milk

Ingredients

• 3-4 cupful fresh milk
• 1/2 cupful of ghee or butter
• 3-4 cupfuls cow blood
• Salt to taste
• 1 small sized onion

Preparation

1. Stir and separate liquid blood from the clot as in the sour milk cooking
2. Chop onions into small pieces and put in a clean strong pan
3. Add half of the ghee and fry until onions are brown
4. Mix blood with milk and pour into the onions in the pan
5. Cook over a slow fire stirring to prevent burning. Add more milk if the mixture becomes too thick
6. Add the remaining half of ghee and also salt
7. Cover the pan, reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes
8. Remove from the fore and serve hot with ugali, bread. The dish tastes like scrambled egg

Aluru (qualis)

Ingredients

• 5 quails (birds)
• 4 tbsp traditional salt
• Salt to taste (optional)
• 3 medium sized onions diced
• 4 medium sized tomatoes diced

Preparation

• Remove feathers from the bird when still alive, leaving the feathers around the head
• Hold the bird by the neck with a v-shaped stick and roast it on fire
• Make perforations on the bird's body to facilitate entry of traditional salt and table salt to taste and boil for 10 minutes
• Put the birds in the cooking bowl 'sufuria' and cook for 30 minutes (ensure some sauce is left)
• Serve with ugali
• Serve 4-5 people

Alur (quails) are birds popularly eaten in the Luhya community. They are usually cooked whole. One eats the flesh together with the bones, as the boned are very soft.

Condiment

Kachumbari

Ingredients

• 3 medium sized onions
• 4 medium sized tomatoes
• Salt to taste
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp chopped dhahia
• 1 green chili

Preparation

1. Peel and slice onions very thinly
2. Sprinkle them with salt and keep aside for sometime
3. Gently squeeze the onions until soft. This helps in removing the bitterness fro them
4. Rinse with clean water
5. Squeeze out excess liquid
6. Slice tomatoes very thinly and mix with dhania, lemon slat and green chili
7. Add in the onions and mix
8. Serve

Traditional Salt

Ingredients

• Dry maize cobs, bean pods or banana peelings
• Clean water
• Strainer (Container perforated at the bottom) or traditional olusherekho

Preparation

1. Burn the dry plant material completely to ash on the clean surface
2. Put the ash in a perforated plastic container and add water
3. Filtrate slowly for 15-30 minutes
4. Collect the filtrate and use it to cook food or store in a clean container (avoid metallic containers)

Note: Bean pods and banana peelings produce a filtrate with brownish tinge while maize cob is clear

More on special African cooking, access Natural Healthy Foods Africa's Dishes, which is available on Amazon.com, Amazon UK and Amazon DE  in Kindle.

An African e-cookbook designed to demonstrate nutritionally-accepted methods of cooking that can fit into both modern and traditional kitchen.                               

This will certainly make a great gift for your favorite cookbook.