Chuma cha kuchomea Vitumbua - Vitumbua pans

A Mama ntilie street vendor's Kitumbua pan in Tanzania. Image source

It isn't easy to find a good pan once your away from East Africa. Most of the people I know brought their pans with them from back home. While in Tanzania you would have bought your pan at the local market. When you shop for a pan there are 3 factors you take into consideration; the Pan's size, number of holes and casting. If you are a food vendor or own a commercial restaurant a pan with greater than 7 holes would be ideal. Of all the qualities an iron cast pan is highly sought because they hold in the heat well and create uniformly cooked vitumbua. I use a small appam pan given to me by my mum but can be bought from Indian speciality shops or you can always ask an Indian own grocery shop attendant,they can direct you where to find one. Another option is to try out the Danish aebleskiver pans, which also does a wonderful job and comes in different sizes. In comparison the Norpro brand pan makes smaller vitumbua while the Lodge brand makes the ideal sized kitumbua. You can find them online at amazon.com.

Hope I have answered a mystery reader's query. And if you've missed my vitumbua recipe post, you can get it here.
Nakutakieni siku njema!- Wish you all a great day!!

Pilau kavu - Plain pilaf

 

Pilau literally means rice gruel.Pilau is also known as pilaf it is eaten widely in India and Arabia.Most of the Pilau recipes usually incorporate meat or fish with nuts and saffron.Pilau Kavu is also commonly known as the poor man’s Pilau.As long the Swahili wife has an onion, a tomato, spices and rice in her pantry her family doesn’t sleep hungry. And if she has a papaya or mango tree in her shamba (field) or backyard they will have that with Pilau.

Makes 6 -8 servings
Ingredients:
3 cups of basmati rice
2 medium size onions
5 Tbs. of vege oil
2 finely chopped tomatoes or 2 teaspoons of tomato paste
1 tsp. garlic paste
1 tsp. ginger paste
Salt
4 ½ cups of HOT water.
Optional:
½ bell pepper
½ cup raisins

Pilau spices in powder form
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. coriander
¼ tsp. cardamom
½ tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. cumin

Directions
1.Wash and soak the rice. Keep it aside.
2.Put the oil in a large pot, add the onions fry till lightly brown. Then add the garlic ginger mixture, spices and green pepper. Once the onions take a deeper shade of brown add the tomatoes, stir frequently till the tomatoes tender. You may need to add few tablespoons of water to help the tomatoes to soften completely should look like paste.
3.Preheat the oven to 350F.
4.Add the hot water, salt and then rice to the pot. Bring to boil and then turn down heat to simmer, cover and leave for 15 minutes. Add raisins, cover the pot and put in oven for 10 minutes after the 5th minute gently stir the pilau and put it back in the oven.

Serve warm with spinach, fried fish or meat and Kachumbari(Salad).

Eid Mubarak!!

The blessed Month of Ramadan has officially ended. And the mosques and homes are filled with believers well wishing each other. As a tradition after the 30 days of fasting on Eid day the Breakfast is usually special. People cook alot of sweet treats which can be consumed then or when friends, neighbours and family visit.

We made a few things for Eid breakfast. Served with Chai.
Mkate wa kumimina - recipe will be coming soon.
Cake - coloured for the fun it!!
cinnamon rolls
visheti- recipe will be coming soon.
Laduu- recipe will be coming soon.
Date crescents
Nangatai
Meat cutlets
Sambusa

Nangatai - Indian crumbling cookies

These cookies are known as Nangatai by the Swahilis but it's origins are from the Indian continent and is known by the name Nankathai or Nankatai. They are usually cooked on special occasions like Eid, Diwali, wedding etc. I remember we used to cook them at home with a little semolina flour and I managed to find a recipe online at Chachi's Kitchen which does that. I made approximately 36 cookies.


Ingredients
4 oz semolina
8 oz plain flour
6 oz sugar
6 oz butter
1 egg (optional) (or 1 tbspn milk)
1/2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn ground cardamom
1/4 tspn nutmeg
pinch of yellow food colouring (optional)

Heat the oven to 180 degree centigrade or 350 F
1. Beat the sugar and butter until creamy and pale in colour
2. Add the egg (or milk), mix
3. Add flour, baking powder, cardomom, and nutmeg mix
4 Knead the dough, form into walnut size balls, place on a greased baking tray
5. mix the food colouring with a little water, using a cocktail stick, make a spot of colour in the centre of each ball
6. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes

You can serve them with a cup of Chai or Kahawa(coffee).

Meat Cutlets - Katlesi za nyama

This is another version of meat chops eaten in East africa. It is a snack and easy to make food you can find it at most restaurants or Migahawa.And it's commonly cooked in Ramadan, too. This chop is a mixture of cooked seasoned meat and mash potatoes. I have previously posted another version with the meat in the middle. In this recipe I used potatoes you can always substitute it with potato granules.

Ingredients
Meat:
1.5 pound of ground beef /chicken
spices: 1 teaspoon of  each : cumin whole/powdered, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and any
other spice you like
¼ cinnamon powder
ginger,garlic, cilantro, bell pepper paste - 2 spoonfuls (I usually
blend them and store in the fridge).
1 medium onion - diced.
salt
1 teaspoon of oil/ cooking spray just to coat the pan
1-2 spoons of lemon juice
Optional: 1-2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper
8 medium potatoes, boiled and finely mashed.(Do not add water or butter)
¼ cup fresh cilantro or parsley finely chopped.
2 eggs,beaten
vege oil for frying
breadcrumbs for coating

Directions:
In a saucepan heat the oil and add the spices just want them to
create an aroma add the meat and ginger paste and let it brown. Add a little
water to make sure that the meat gets cooked thoroughly. Add the lemon juice and let all the liquids evaporate add the onions and chopped cilantro in and let cook for 5 minutes only. Put your meat aside and let it cool.

Once meat has cooled mix it with the mashed potatoes. You can taste for salt and add more salt or lemon juice or red chili flakes. Then take a fist of the mixture and shape it in an oval shape. Repeat this till you finish the mixture.

The final step
Beat 2 eggs, roll the cutless into breadcrumbs then dip each cutless in the egg wash and fry.Fry till are evenly brown. Drain on a paper towel. Best eaten as a snack or with a dip.

Notes:
1. Sometimes the mixture can be very soft and sticky... put it in the fridge for 30-40 minutes. Then make the shapes.
2. If you want to store in the freezer.. shape the cutlets then put them in a tray and freeze for 30-45 minutes. Then you can store them in Ziploc bags without fear of distorting the shape. I usually put 6-8 pieces in a bag and whenever I want to cook them, I defrost them on a plate lined with paper towelto absorb any water then I continue with the final step.

Date crescents - Aqras Tamir

I wanted to make a date stuffed Eid treat and decided to try this recipe from the Cookbook titled From the lands of the Figs and Olives by Habeeb Salloum and James Peters. The recipe is from Syria and Lebanon.
The Crescents tasted lovely, the pastry was crumbling and the filling wasn't very sweet.. something I love. I improvised using walnuts and pecans instead of almonds. From the appearance I noticed though a few of them after baking had opened up from the edges.Next time I cook them will try to seal the pastry more thoroughly.

Makes about 36 pieces
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups butter, melted
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup finely chopped dates
3/4 cup blanched almonds, ground
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
pinch nutmeg powder
pinch ground clove powder
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar


In a bowl, mix 1 cup of butter, the eggs, milk, salt, and vanilla. Sift together the flour and baking powder, then gradually knead the flour into butter mixture until a soft dough is formed. Form into ping-pong size balls and allow to rest, covered with a cloth, for 1 hour.
In the meantime, make the filling by thoroughly mixing the rest of the ingredients, including the remaining 4 teaspoons of butter and excepting the confectioner's sugar.



Roll out the balls to 3-4 inch rounds. Place 1 heaping teaspoon of filling in the center of each round, then fold over to cover the filling and form into a crescent shape. Pinch the edges together to seal.


Place a baking tray; then bake in a 350 F preheated oven for 20minutes or until the crescents turn golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool; then place on a serving tray and sprinkle with the confectioner's sugar.

Ndizi mkono wa tembo za Nazi Original version- Sweet plantain in coconut cream

Ingredients
4 large ripe sweet bananas (yellow plantain)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 to 1/2 cup of water
2 packets of coconut powder - (equivalent 2 coconuts)
1 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of custard powder
1 teaspoon crushed cardamom
Optional: Few drops of vanilla essence.

Direction:
Peel the bananas, cut in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Place in a shallow cooking pot. Add water and simmer on low heat until tender. In a blender mix the sugar, cardamom, coconut and custard powder and milk. Add the coconut mix and simmer for a further 10-20 minutes. Serve warm or cold. Goes well with meat or fish dish.

Cinnamon Rolls

Salaam,

I have been craving for something sweet and homemade cinnamon rolls came to mind. Surfing the net I came across The Pioneer Woman cook's recipe I couldnt resist to take the challenge. The recipe maybe a little bit time consuming but I found it very easy to make. I made 1/8th of the original recipe, used brown sugar instead of white added raisins & nuts and cooked my rolls in a 2 bread pans ( each with 7 rolls). For the frosting I reduced the sugar and used vanilla essence instead of Maple. Final results the rolls are mouth watering divine, extremely delicious!!!! I have already eaten 2 of this little treats.

The printable original recipe link