Cooking | CONGOKIN

MATEMBELE (SWEET POTATO LEAVES)

Posted By: CONGOKINon: January 09, 2016In: CookingTags:

INGREDIENTS:

2 bunches of fresh sweet potato leaves or 500g of frozen
2 Tablespoons of palm oil, vegetable or olive oil
200g Smoked fish
1 Large onion
2 Maggi Shrimp stock cubes
Salt to taste

PREPARATION:

Remove the leaves from the stems, leaving some stalks, wash thoroughly in plenty of water to remove any grit, cut into 1/2cm strips.

In a pan, fry the onion in palm oil until tender, smoked fish, shrimp stock cubes, and the cut leaves. Stir and cover on a low heat until the liquid is reduced and the vegetable is cooked. Serve with fufu, rice or plantain.

TIPS:

This recipe is best made with fresh sweep potato leaves. They are widely found in African shops.

NGAI-NGAI (SOUR SOUR) VEGETABLES

Posted By: CONGOKINon: January 02, 2016In: CookingTags:

INGREDIENTS:

2 bunches of fresh Ngai-Ngai or 500g frozen
1 Tin of chopped plum tomatoes
1 Large onion
3 Tablespoons of palm oil
2 Maggi Shrimps stock cubes
200g Smoked fish
Salt to taste

PREPARATION:

For fresh Ngai-Ngai leaves, remove each leaf from the stems. Wash in cold water, drain a little, cut in small strips and place in a pan and steam by stirring the leaves until they wither and shrink in size. If the leaves appear to be hard, use a wooden spatula to break the leaves. Failing this, place the withered leaves in a food processor and use the pulse setting to cut them further. (It should like ground spinach).
In another pan, fry the onion in the palm oil until soft. Add the tin of chopped tomatoes, stock cubes and smoked fish. Once this sauce is cooked, like the sauce for spaghetti, add the steamed fresh vegetables or a packet of frozen one, stir occasionally and simmer gently for 30. Add a little water if it is too thick.

TIPS:

This vegetable is used as a side dish that can be served with fried fish, meat stew and fufu.

CHICKEN MWAMBA (PEANUT BUTTER CHICKEN SAUCE)

Posted By: CONGOKINon: December 25, 2015In: CookingTags:

INGREDIENTS:

1 Whole chicken. (Please note this recipe is with the hard stewing chicken).
1 Tin chopped plum tomatoes or 4 medium fresh tomatoes
1 Litre of water
1 Tablespoon of tomato paste
2 large onions chopped
1 Clove of garlic
1 Piece of ginger (about 2 cm) chopped in thin strips
2 Chicken Stock cubes
2 Tablespoons of palm oil
4 Tablespoons of 100 percent peanut butter (Or finely ground salted roasted peanuts)
1 Scotch bonnet hot pepper or chilli powder
White pepper
Salt to taste

PREPARATION:

Cut the chicken into pieces, medium to large. For a broiler (hard chicken), Put in a pan with 1 litre of water, add the stock cubes, white pepper, onion, ginger, garlic and the palm oil. Cover and bring to the boil until the chicken is still firm but tender and the stock has reduced.

Put the boiled chicken to one side. In a pan, fry the chopped onions until translucent, then add chopped tomatoes or 4 medium size fresh tomatoes and continue to fry until the sauce has thickened. Add this sauce to the boiled chicken and 3 tablespoons of peanut butter, add a whole scotch bonnet (this is used for flavouring but if you like the sauce hot, you can break the pepper), stir and allow to cook for another 20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and the oil has risen on top. Once it’s cooked, remove the excess oil and serve with rice, plantain, yam or fufu.

TIPS:

This recipe can also be made with any part of roasting chicken. In this case, please cut the roasting chicken into medium pieces, brown the chicken by frying it on both sides, put aside. Fry the onion, ginger, garlic, stock cubes, chopped tomatoes and tomato paste in the palm oil, once cooked, add the peanut butter and the browned chicken pieces and 300ml of water, and continue as above.