I really enjoyed my time in Kenya and that definitely included the food. This month was a heavily vegetarian diet for us. Meat in Kenya is expensive so the average Kenyan eats it maybe twice a week at the most. Obviously wealth controls this a lot. A poorer family may be lucky to eat meat twice a month. Also there are many families that do not have the luxury of an indoor kitchen with a stove, so all the traditional dishes revolve around things that can be made in one pot or roasted over a open fire.
A big staple and much loved dish in Kenya is Ugali. This is made with cornmeal that is poured into boiling water and cooked while stirring till it makes a thick paste. Think like polenta but even thicker. It is ceremoniously smacked out onto a platter and cut into thick wedges to be eaten with vegetables or stew. My favorite way to eat it is with Sukuma Wiki, a mixture of cooked collard greens and kale with tomatoes,onions, and mchuzi mix (flavoring salt). You can even use the Ugali as a spoon to scoop up your accompanying dish and pop it all in your mouth.
Another great staple in Kenya is stew. It comes in all forms beef, goat, chicken, fish, or vegetables. The sauce the meat is cooked in is always a combination of tomato with onion, pepper, and mchuzi mix (flavored salt).
A lot of the meals we cooked and ate while staying with our host were a combination of rice and a grain such as lentils or beans. It’s filling and a good source of protein. On their own rice or beans do not have all the components for a complete protein but together they do. We had pasta on occasion too usually just mixed with some vegetables and a light tomato sauce. Our options for vegetables included cabbage, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, and potatoes. Our breakfasts were always all the sliced bread we could handle with tropical mix or red plum jam, butter spread, peanut butter, and bananas. I washed down my buttered bread down with copious amounts of chi, a milky black tea usually sweetened.
Staying in Mumias for a few days, we were treated to a feast for dinner our first night. I learned to make Chapati, a type of flatbread, which quickly became the favorite food of our teams. Along with the Chapati that night we were served tilapia stew, rice, matoke (plantain banana mash), Ugali, sautéed cabbage, and fresh pineapple. The pineapple here is so sweet with this almost floral note to it.
To contrast our feast in Mumias, when we were visiting the Pokot tribe the meal was little but special due to the people. The men from the Pokot tribe picked out one of their goats, killed, skinned, and cut it up for everyone’s dinner that night. I was there to witness the whole process. As a cook, I found it completely fascinating to watch. The men of the tribe drank the blood of the goat, claiming that it was what gave them their strength and endurance. The older women of the tribe enjoyed eating the stomach lining of the goat raw. The cut up portions of the goat, everything minus the head, hoofs, and intestines, went into a pot with water and was boiled over an open fire. This was served with Ugali. There was not much to go around. The men each received one small piece of goat meat with a plate of Ugali while the women and children would share a plate of the same among three or four of them. Not wanting to take much from others who needed it more than I did, I just has a small bite of goat. It reminded me of lamb I’ve had before but with a stronger more gamey taste to it.
Besides bananas and pineapple Kenya boosts of many delicious fruits such as mango, red plums, watermelon, passion fruit, papaya, orange, pear, and Kiwano melon. Kiwano melon is this funny oblong spiky fruit no bigger than a small toy football. The inside is green and full of seeds. You eat the seeds that are each surrounded by a clear green tinged membrane like a pomegranate. The flavor is like a cross between a cucumber and a kiwi.
Thinking of the delicious fruit reminds me of all the street food in Kenya. Watermelon, pineapple, and mango are sold on the street out of wheelbarrows or big plastic tuber wares cut into individual portions. There are also many vendors selling boiled eggs, small cooked sausages, French fries, sodas, cookies, crackers, and mandazi, a fried dough similar to a doughnut without frosting. When I say vendors, I want you to imagine rough little wooden stalls. Some are simply a counter supported by two sides and a small roof. Others are small enclosed wooden structures about 6 to 7 feet high and about the same width and 5 foot depth. The vendors selling boiled eggs and small sausages or French fries just have a metal with glass viewing panel enclosed push cart to keep their goods warm. The ladies selling sodas and packaged snacks will have them in large baskets that they balance on their heads. They will boldly walk up to stoped taxis and cars in hopes of making a sale. I’ve even seen a man pushing a big wheelbarrow filled with sugar cane. He’ll stop and cut off some and shave it down for anyone with the desire to buy some and chew on it. One day my friend Annie and I shared some corn on the cob a woman was roasting over a small grill on the street. This corn was not the same as we would get in America. This corn had been allowed to mature before being picked so it was not sweet but starchy. It tasted like very chewy popcorn.
As always this is by no means an exhaustive list of all Kenya has to offer. I have heard mention of meats roasted over an open fire that are considered a great delicacy and coconut rice served with fish on the coast. This is my simple but fulfilling look into some of what Kenya has to offer. I hope this helps to paint a better picture of the country I spent the first month of 2020 in.
Chapati Recipe
As I mentioned above Chapati is a type of flat bread. It is the shape of a large flour tortilla while being crispy on the outside and soft and tender inside. This bread was brought over to Kenya from Indian immigrants, but has been shaped to the preferences of the locals. In contrast to Chapati found in India, Kenyan Chapati is thinner. It is usually served with a stew of some sort or eaten as a snack with Chai, milky sweetened black tea. I have even seen some people add grated carrot to the dough. It is cheap to make and very versatile.
Ingredients
3 cups All purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons oil + extra for cooking (I would recommend canola, avocado, or a low grade olive oil)
1 1/4 cup warm water
Directions
-By hand: pour water into large bowl. Add salt and sugar and stir to dissolve. Add 3 tablespoons of oil and flour and stir with a wooden or rubber spoon until a rough dough has formed. Kneed by hand adding a little flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to your hands for ten minutes.
-By machine: Add all the above ingredients into your kitchen aid with dough attachment. Kneed with the machine on setting 4 for 5 to 6 minutes.
-In either case the dough should be smooth and tacky, meaning it should try and cling to your fingers a little but still pull away.
-Let the dough rest covered for 15 minutes.
-Portion the dough into pieces a little larger than a golf ball.
-Set a 8 or 10 inch non-stick sauté pan on the stove at Medium-High heat.
-Roll out a portion of dough into a thin circle approximately a 1/4 inch thick.
-Place the dough disk into the dry pan and cook the first side for approximately 1 minute until it is a very light brown.
-Flip Chapati over and cook the other side the same way
-Pour a Tablespoons worst of oil on the top side of the Chapati and spread it around to coat the top side evenly. Flip the Chapati over to the oiled side. After about 30 seconds give the dough a spin in the pan with your hand. This helps to make sure the oil is evenly distributed on the bottom of the pan.
-Cook for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes until the bottom is golden brown and a little crispy.
-Soon a little oil on the top side and spread it around before flipping over the Chapati. Flip and cook other side for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes until golden brown and slightly crispy.
-Remove Chapati from the pan to a towel lined plate and cover while cooking remaining Chapati to keep cooked ones warm.
-Continue rolling out dough and cooking in this manner till all the Chapatis are done.
-Enjoy!
