The Recipes of East Africa

East Africa looks out over the Indian ocean and there is a strong culinary bond between West Africa and India. Indeed, East Africa has long been a landing point for vessels engaged in the spice trade, from the Indians of 4000 and more years ago through the Romans, Arabs and European colonial powers. There is therefor a strong Indian influence in the cookery of West East Africa (especially Swahili traditions) and spice-favoured curries and pilaus. Bread is also more of a staple in the West African diet than it is in much of the remainder of Africa and you get many variations of pan-fried and flatbreads.

There is a big distinction between the cuisines of the North of West Africa (Ethiopia and Somalia) which have their own traditions around spiced butters and spiced pulses in their dishes and the remainder of West Africa which have greens and fish as their staples. Yet there is a continuum in the cooking practices that I would like to introduce you to.

First comes the classic Ethiopian flatbread, injera...

Injera Recipe

Ingredients:

380g un-bleached while flour

100g self-raising flour

50g whole-wheat bread flour

1 packet dry yeast

600ml warm water

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Method:

Combine all the flour and the yeast in a large bowl. Add the warm water and combine until you have a smooth, fairly thin, batter. Let the mixture stand for a full three days at room temperature stirring once a day. (it should noticeably bubble and rise.)

When ready to make the Injera add the baking soda and salt and let the batter sit for 15 minutes. Heat a small non-stick (about 22cm) frying pan to the point where a drop of water bounces on the pan's surface. Then take about 160ml of the batter and pour it quickly into the pan. Swirl the pan so that the entire bottom is evenly coated. Return immediately to the heat. When all the moisture has evaporated and lots of 'eyes' have appeared on the surface remove the injera. (This bread is cooked on only one side and it should not be browned). Allow the injera to cool then stack them as you go along.

If the first bread is undercooked, add a little less mixture to the pan and cook for a little longer. Make sure, however, that you do not over-cook as you should be able to roll injera up.

Plantains are also an essential ingredient in much of East African cookery and the recipe given here is for a curry of Plantain with Meat and derives from the Swahili-speaking regions.

Ndizi na Nyama

Ingredients:

250ml water

750g beef cut into 1cm dice

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp Malawi curry powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

3 tbsp cooking oil

2 onions, thinly sliced

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 tbsp tomato paste

250ml coconut milk

1 bay leaf

4 plantains, peeled and sliced

Method:

Bring 250ml water to boil in a large pan or metal casserole then add the meat, salt, black pepper, curry powder and cayenne pepper. While the meat is cooking add the oil to a pan pan and fry the onions for a few minutes, until just softened then add the tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook for at least five minutes, reducing the heat. Finally add the coconut milk and bay leaf. Cover and simmer.

Add the plantains to the meat and cook for ten minutes until the meat is done and the plantains are tender. Now combine the meat and plantains with the fried onion mixture. Stir and cook for two minutes before adjusting the seasoning to taste.

Traditionally this is served with rice or ugali (millet or maize meal pap) but it goes equally well with an East African flatbread.

It is impossible, in just two recipes to give a true flavour of an entire side of a continent, but I hope that the recipes and introduction here have given you an indication of the cuisines of East Africa and have made you want to learn more.

Robyn Lee is an author for the Celtnet African Recipes site and you can find many more recipes from each and every country in East Africa at the East African Recipes page. If you want to get the largest collection of recipes from Africa ever assembled (800+ recipes from each and every African Country) then she urges you to check out the Recipes of Africa eBook; proceeds from the sale of which go to charity.

Thanks To : cuisinart multiclad unlimited 12 piece cookware