Maandazi
Ingredients:
-1.5 Kilo of wheat flour
-2 tbsp yeast
-2 tbsp baking powder
-4 eggs
-2.5 liters milk
-1 cup of sugar
-1 tbsp salt
-4 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
-1 lemon
-1 tsp rosemary or cinnamon (an American twist)
Process:
Heat vegetable oil over the stove and then in a large bowl mix it with 1/2 kilo of flour. Add the yeast, baking powder, sugar, salt, and milk and begin to kneed. After about 2 minutes of kneeding you are ready to add your eggs, lemon juice and preferred spice. Coninue to kneed, slowly adding the rest of your flour until the mixture becomes a thick dough. Now, set your dough aside for about an hour or until it has risen.
Once your dough has risen, roll it out into slabs about 1/4 inch thick and cut into the shape you like. You must now let the dough rise again for about an hour. Once your dough has risen for a second time, you are ready to fry your dough using a large deep frying pan. When the dough turns a light golden color the process is complete. Eat and Enjoy!
Chapati
Ingredients:
-3 cups all purpose flour
-2 cups warm water
-2 eggs
-1.5 tbsp salt
-2 tbsp sugar
-regular vegetable oil for brushing
Process:
Dissolve salt in 1 cup of water. In a bowl, mix salt and water. Slowly add the flour, sugar, beaten eggs, and other cup of water, kneading until dough becomes soft (approximately 10 minutes and your hands should hurt when you are done:) Divide dough into 4 or 5 equal parts. Roll each part into a ball and apply oil. Take each part in turn, and use a rolling pin to roll it out until it is a flat circle about 1/4 centimeters thin. Brush with oil again. Fold to make the dough one long rectangle, pulling the ends apart as you fold to make the dough longer and thinner (see picture below).
Now you are ready to create a coil like shape out of the dough. Folding the end into the center of the coil. set it down, and proceed with the others. When all balls of dough have been turned into coils. Take each, one by one, and roll them back out into flat circular pieces of dough. Now you are ready to cook. Put about a tablespoon oil to the bottom of your frying pan and place one piece of the flat circular dough in the pan at a time. Keep the heat relatively low, and watch it is browns (it will brown very quickly). Add oil to the edges and top of the dough as it browns. When golden circles start to appear on the bottom of the chapati, brush the top of the chapati with a bit of oil and then flip and cook that side until golden circles appear there as well. Remove from the pan, eat, and enjoy! Chapati can be eaten with breakfast, lunch or dinner. If you are going to prepare this dish for breakfast, you may want to add some sugar to the dough and eat with jelly or fruits. If you have prepared this dish for dinner, it is ideal to eat with beans, rice, or vegetables.
Mama Annu’s Famous Cooked Beans
Ingredients:
-1 kilo beans (enola bean or any type of small sweet tasting bean you can find)
-1 carrot
-1 sweet pepper
-1 eggplant
-1 onion
-3 cloves fresh garlic (minced)
-1 coconut
-2 tsp salt
-2 tbsp vegetable or grape seed oil
Process:
Begin by boiling your beans. The beans will rise while boiling. After 30 minutes, the beans will sink again in the pot. Once the beans start to soften, you will begin to prepare your vegetables.
While your beans boil: dice the carrot, sweet pepper, onion, and eggplant in small pieces.
Once the beans have been boiled and the vegetables prepared, mix the vegetables and minced garlic with the beans.
Leave the mixture to boil until it becomes soft. While your mixture softens, prepare your coconut.
Shave your coconut and then add 1 cup of warm water to the pieces. (If you do not want to shave your own coconut, try to find unsweetened shaved coconut in your nearest grocery store. Mind you, a real coconut is your best bet in preparing this delicious meal.) In Africa, we do not use the bits of coconut itself, but instead we use the liquid from the mixture of coconut and water as a spice in our foods. Thus you will strain the liquid out of the shaved coconut to get coconut milk. You will then discard the bits of shaved coconut.
At this point you are ready to add cooking oil and leave your mixture to simmer for another 4 minutes. Now you may add the coconut milk and stir often until it boils.
Add salt and ENJOY.
Maize with mixed vegetables
Ingredients:
-1 medium cabbage, shredded
-1 bunch spinach, shredded
-1 bunch turnips, peeled and diced
-1 bunch spring onions, chopped
-250ml mealie rice (also called maize rice or corn rice)
-375ml mealie meal (also called cornmeal)
-500ml water
-125g margarine
-salt and pepper to taste
Process:
Wash and rinse vegetables. In a large saucepan bring water to a boil, add all vegetables, toss with a fork and let simmer for 10 minutes. Add mealie rice, mix through and then stir in mealie meal. Use a wooden spoon to mix the ingredients to a pulp. Cook over low heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Ready to eat. Enjoy!
African Pineapple Peanut Stew
Ingredients:
-1 cup chopped onions
-2 minced or pressed garlic cloves
-1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
-4 cups kale, sliced
-2 cups pineapple, canned, crushed, and undrained
-1/2 cup peanut butter
-1 tbsp. tabasco or hot pepper sauce
-1/2 cup chopped cilantro
-taste of salt
Process:
Use a covered saucepan to cook onions and garlic in oil for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently until the onions are lightly browned. While the onions are being cooked, wash the kale. Remove the stems, stack the leaves on a cutting board and slice crosswise in thick slices. Add the pineapple and its juice to the onions and bring to a simmer. Stir in the kale, cover and let simmer for 5 minutes, stirring a few times, just until tender. Mix in the peanut butter, ho pepper sauce, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add salt to taste. (You can also use spinach instead of the kale but you may wish to use more since the spinach shrivels up more than the kale does). Eat and Enjoy!
