Africana......
Last night we had a very fun night at our house. We decided to have an African night with some guests. Everyone made African dishes to share, we had African music, and some even dressed in African attire for the event. Unfortunately no one thought to take any pictures. However trust me when I tell you that it was yummy!
The previous weekend we had had an Indian food night which was yummy and fun as well. However those dishes were difficult and expensive. Therefore when it came time to prepare for our African feast Mandi and I were a little concerned. It makes sense though that foods from Africa would be less expensive and complicated due to limited income and available resources. Anyways, aside from some prego nausea due to smells from my best buddy everyone seemed to enjoy the food and fun. I'm thinking this could become a monthly ritual for the Constables!
Anyways, I wanted to post some of the recipes for those of you who are interested in trying them. Again they are easy and you don't need to run all over your city trying to find the ingredients. Everything can be found right in the grocery store.
For those of you who get adventurous and try these I'd love to hear what you thought. Also for those of you who are reading this and ate these goodies last evening feel free to leave your comments so that others will know what you thought. You may also leave those recipes that I do not have on here that you made. Now on to the recipes....
Ginger Tea from Kenya
Boil:
2 cups of water
Add:
1 Tbs. diced ginger root
4 tsp sugar
Simmer 10 minutes or longer for more flavour
Add:
4 black tea bags (preferably fair trade)
Simmer 3-5 minutes, stirring as needed.
Remove tea bags and add:
2 cups of milk
Heat until very hot but do not boil. Strain into cups to remove ginger.
Curried Split Peas from Kenya
Heat to boiling in pot, turn off heat and let stand 1 hour:
1 cup split peas (green or yellow)
3.5 cups water
After an hour bring to boil, then simmer until soft and mushy (about 45 minutes)
In a separate pan sauté over medium heat in 2 Tbs of oil until brown:
2 medium onions
4-6 cloves of garlic
Add to onions and garlic:
2 Tbs. curry powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
Fry 1 minute. Mix with cooked split peas.
Add:
2-4 Tbs. chopped cilantro
Simmer briefly to blend flavours.
Chick-Peas in Coconut Milk from Tanzania
Combine in saucepan:
2 cups canned chickpeas that have been drained and rinsed
1 chopped tomato
4 whole cloves or 1/8 tsp ground cloves
2-3 cloves of minced garlic
1 1/2 cups of coconut milk
1 1/2 tsp of ground turmeric
1/2 tsp of salt
Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 20 minutes to blend flavours. Serve with rice.
Meat Loaf from South Africa
Soak one piece of bread in:
3/4 cup of milk
In a frying pan melt 1 Tbs butter and fry until golden:
1/2 cup diced onion
Add:
1 Tbs. curry powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp salt
dash of pepper
1 Tbs. lemon juice
In mixing bowl combine:
soaked bread (squeeze out milk and reserve)
fried onions and seasonings
1 egg
1 lb. ground beef or turkey
Mix well and put into well greased casserole or loaf pan.
Whisk together and pour over meat:
1 egg
reserved milk
dash of salt and pepper
Bake at 375 F for 45-50 minutes or until egg mixture is set and meat is cooked.
Ginger Pudding from Lesotho
Combine in a 9" square baking dish:
2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbs vinegar
Stir until sugar dissolved. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine:
2/3 cup margarine/butter melted
2 cups flour
2 Tbs apricot jam
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
Mix well, add a bit of milk if the batter is dry.
Preheat oven to 375 F. Drop cake mixture by small spoonfuls into syrup.
Cover tightly with foil (so it steams) and bake 50-55 minutes or until set.
Serve with custard or whipped cream.
The previous weekend we had had an Indian food night which was yummy and fun as well. However those dishes were difficult and expensive. Therefore when it came time to prepare for our African feast Mandi and I were a little concerned. It makes sense though that foods from Africa would be less expensive and complicated due to limited income and available resources. Anyways, aside from some prego nausea due to smells from my best buddy everyone seemed to enjoy the food and fun. I'm thinking this could become a monthly ritual for the Constables!
Anyways, I wanted to post some of the recipes for those of you who are interested in trying them. Again they are easy and you don't need to run all over your city trying to find the ingredients. Everything can be found right in the grocery store.
For those of you who get adventurous and try these I'd love to hear what you thought. Also for those of you who are reading this and ate these goodies last evening feel free to leave your comments so that others will know what you thought. You may also leave those recipes that I do not have on here that you made. Now on to the recipes....
Ginger Tea from Kenya
Boil:
2 cups of water
Add:
1 Tbs. diced ginger root
4 tsp sugar
Simmer 10 minutes or longer for more flavour
Add:
4 black tea bags (preferably fair trade)
Simmer 3-5 minutes, stirring as needed.
Remove tea bags and add:
2 cups of milk
Heat until very hot but do not boil. Strain into cups to remove ginger.
Curried Split Peas from Kenya
Heat to boiling in pot, turn off heat and let stand 1 hour:
1 cup split peas (green or yellow)
3.5 cups water
After an hour bring to boil, then simmer until soft and mushy (about 45 minutes)
In a separate pan sauté over medium heat in 2 Tbs of oil until brown:
2 medium onions
4-6 cloves of garlic
Add to onions and garlic:
2 Tbs. curry powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
Fry 1 minute. Mix with cooked split peas.
Add:
2-4 Tbs. chopped cilantro
Simmer briefly to blend flavours.
Chick-Peas in Coconut Milk from Tanzania
Combine in saucepan:
2 cups canned chickpeas that have been drained and rinsed
1 chopped tomato
4 whole cloves or 1/8 tsp ground cloves
2-3 cloves of minced garlic
1 1/2 cups of coconut milk
1 1/2 tsp of ground turmeric
1/2 tsp of salt
Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 20 minutes to blend flavours. Serve with rice.
Meat Loaf from South Africa
Soak one piece of bread in:
3/4 cup of milk
In a frying pan melt 1 Tbs butter and fry until golden:
1/2 cup diced onion
Add:
1 Tbs. curry powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp salt
dash of pepper
1 Tbs. lemon juice
In mixing bowl combine:
soaked bread (squeeze out milk and reserve)
fried onions and seasonings
1 egg
1 lb. ground beef or turkey
Mix well and put into well greased casserole or loaf pan.
Whisk together and pour over meat:
1 egg
reserved milk
dash of salt and pepper
Bake at 375 F for 45-50 minutes or until egg mixture is set and meat is cooked.
Ginger Pudding from Lesotho
Combine in a 9" square baking dish:
2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbs vinegar
Stir until sugar dissolved. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine:
2/3 cup margarine/butter melted
2 cups flour
2 Tbs apricot jam
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
Mix well, add a bit of milk if the batter is dry.
Preheat oven to 375 F. Drop cake mixture by small spoonfuls into syrup.
Cover tightly with foil (so it steams) and bake 50-55 minutes or until set.
Serve with custard or whipped cream.
posted by Erin @ 12:05 PM
1 Comments:
Okay my thoughts:
1. The ginger tea was very good...however make sure you strain it I left out that step so it was a little sickening when you got to the bottom of the cup.
2. Split peas looked like baby poop but had a great flavour. When it cools it gets thick and would be excellent on sandwiches as a spread/paté thing (good idea Morgan).
3. This was the recipe that baby Lawson was not letting Mandi enjoy. However with everyone else it seemed to be the favorite perhaps?
4. This was good but interesting. It was like having scrambled eggs on top of meat loaf.
5. Don't let this recipe fool you it's nothing like pudding at all and it was very yummy. It was cake with a warm sauce. I don't know it was good and well worth a try!
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