African plantain stew

I tasted this raw plantain stew in Zanzibar and it's truly indicative of the melting pot of cultures that Zanzibar is...five to be precise - Arab, Persian, Indian, African and Portuguese! It was served with pan seared king fish as an accompaniment but it's also delicious with plain white rice as a main course.

I was lucky to find raw plantains at the Indian grocery store one day but you can use raw bananas instead.























Ingredients:

3-4 raw plantains
2 onions, chopped
1 can peeled, diced tomatoes in juice
1 small can coconut milk
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
salt to taste
1 tbsp oil
2 star anise
2 large cardamom pods (black), give it a quick whack with the back of the knife so it opens
2 bay leaves



Method:

Peel the plantains, cut into 1'' thick slices and place in a pot of water. Add turmeric, salt and boil until cooked through. Drain and reserve.


Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan, add cardamom, star anise and bay leaves and saute for a few minutes. Add onions and saute until translucent, then add chili powder, coriander powder, salt and toss until combined. Now add the tomatoes and cook until it is well combined and oil float to the top.


Finally add the coconut milk and cook through until it bubbles, then add the plantains and simmer for a few minutes until flavours are absorbed.


Serve spooned over white rice with piri-piri sauce on the side.

Zanzibar pizza

This is very popular, spicy street food from Zanzibar - sold at the night markets at Forodhani. I fell in love with it and went back again the next night to satisfy my craving. I was probably one of the few to ask for extra piri-piri (chili) 'coz he recognized us the next day and made mine with extra zing! I later saw the same guy featured in a book called "Taste of Zanzibar" at a gift store. He was so skilled at making this and I watched in awe trying to pick up some new techniques ;).



The technique used reminds me of how a South Indian bread called barota is made, which actually has more layering involved. The filling is unique - beef, vegetables and egg. There is no cheese and this is certainly not pizza as we know it ...it's topped with hot sauce or ketchup depending on how much heat you can handle. The process is slightly complicated although he made it look incredibly easy...but it is well worth the effort! I tried to do it exactly the same way and it tastes as good as I remember it!

Ingredients

Dough:
3 cups flour
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt
warm water

Filling:
1/2 lb ground beef
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp oil
salt to taste

1 small carrot, minced
1 small onion, minced
1 green chili, minced
coriander springs, minced

6 eggs
6 tsp Mayonnaise
6 tsp oil + more for greasing the counter as needed


Method:

Make a well in the flour, add the oil, salt and combine. Start adding warm water and mix until it makes a smooth dough. Knead it for 5 minutes so it is elastic then make a ball, coat it with a bit of oil and let it rest in a bowl covered with plastic wrap for 1 hour or more.

To make the beef filling - heat the oil in a pan, add the garlic and saute until softened. Then add the meat and crumble with a fork at it cooks. Add the rest of the spices, salt to taste and cook till done. Turn off the heat drain on a paper towel to remove any excess grease.

Combine all the minced vegetables into another bowl. Keep the mayonnaise and the egg handy.

Divide the dough into 9 portions first. Now take 3 of them and divide them equally, roll into 6 small balls. Roll the rest of them into 6 large balls. The idea is to make a small circle and a large circle of dough for each pizza - resulting in 6 pizzas.

The dough should be stretched out by hand on a smooth, oiled surface...granite counter top works best. Take one of the small balls of dough, oil the surface lightly (too much causes the dough to slide and tear) then start stretching the dough out into a circle by using the base of your palm (or your thumb)and rotating the dough. It is actually not too difficult once you get the hang of it and it does not need to be a perfect circle. The dough should become thin and transparent all over. Now do the same with large ball of dough and it should yield a much wider circle.

Heat a non stick skillet, place the small circle in it and cook on low heat (no oil) until it starts turning opaque and slightly golden. Then turn over and do the same.
Remove this circle from the skillet and place it inside the large circle - now this acts as a base for the filling and prevents tearing...genius!

Place a large spoonful of the beef mixture in the center, followed by a spoon of the vegetable mince. Now make some room, crack an egg into it and mix with the beef using a folk. An easier option is to beat an egg in a small cup and spoon that into the beef as you combine it lightly with a fork. Add a tsp of mayonnaise on top and start pulling up the edges to hold the filling like a cup (one of those rustic pies) and place the entire pizza on a skillet (as shown in the first picture). Drizzle a tsp of oil around it and cook on low heat till it is golden and then flip and cook until done.



Serve it the eggy side up with hot sauce or ketchup on top.

African spinach stew

This is spicy African comfort food that can be prepared in just a few minutes. When it is cold and dreary outside, which describes most winter days in Seattle, there's nothing like this stew over hot, steaming rice!






Ingredients:
1 large bunch spinach, chopped
1 large ripe tomato, chopped
1/4 cup good creamy peanut butter (at room temp.)
4 tbsp toasted peanuts
4-5 red chillies
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Method:
Heat oil in a wide sauce pan, crumble the red chillies into pieces and saute. Add the tomatoes and cook until soft. Then add the chopped spinach and cook for a few minutes until cooked.
Make room in the center of the pan and add the peanut butter and half a cup or so of water. Stir on low heat till the peanut butter has melted and then combine with the spinach to form a thick sauce or rather stew. You may need to add more water and/or as needed.
Turn off the heat and sprinkle with peanuts and spoon immediately over steamy white rice.