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Southern African recipes

12 Southern African recipes to cook at home, each with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Mageu, takes 25 minutes. Most take around 70 minutes.

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Chambo with nsima

Chambo is a tilapia from Lake Malawi, and fried chambo with nsima (stiff maize porridge) is what visitors to Mangochi, Cape Maclear and Nkhata Bay are served at lakeside lunches. The fish is fried or grilled whole, then topped with a fresh tomato and onion relish; the nsima is pinched off and used to scoop up the fish and juice. The mistake is skipping the relish, which keeps the meal fresh; make it while the fish fries. Chef's tip: any whole tilapia or sea bream works if you can't find chambo.

55 minFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Muriwo une dovi

Muriwo une dovi, greens with peanut butter, is a daily relish in Zimbabwean homes, eaten with sadza at lunch and supper. Collard greens, rape or pumpkin leaves are cooked with onion and tomato, then stirred into a creamy peanut sauce. Zambia's ifisashi is the same idea, usually without tomato and often made with pumpkin leaves or spinach and eaten with nshima. Chef's tip: add the peanut butter at the end and cook just long enough to thicken; long boiling makes it gluey.

30 minSidesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Matapa

Matapa is the great dish of southern Mozambique, from Maputo to Inhambane: young cassava leaves pounded and cooked for a long time with ground peanuts, coconut milk and garlic until soft, creamy and deep green. It is eaten with rice or xima (maize porridge), and on the coast it often has crab or prawns stirred in; this version keeps to the leaves. Frozen ground cassava leaves are sold in African grocers. Chef's tip: cook the cassava leaves for at least an hour; undercooked they taste bitter and are not safe to eat.

90 minCurriesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Nhopi

Nhopi is a simple Shona dish from Zimbabwe, made at harvest time when the pumpkins come in: pumpkin or butternut boiled soft, mashed and enriched with peanut butter. Some families stir in a little maize meal to make it thicker (nhopi dovi), and it is eaten for breakfast or as a side with greens. It is sweet, nutty and loved by children. Chef's tip: drain the pumpkin very well before mashing, or the nhopi turns thin and watery.

30 minSidesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bolo polana

Bolo polana takes its name from the old Polana district of Maputo and is a celebration cake in Mozambique, made for birthdays and Christmas, built on two of the country's great crops: cashew nuts and potatoes. Ground cashews and mashed potato make it dense, fragrant and very moist, with orange zest to lift it. It shows the Portuguese baking tradition meeting local ingredients. Chef's tip: grind the cashews in short pulses with a spoon of the sugar; ground alone, they turn to cashew butter.

90 minBakingGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mageu

Mageu (also amahewu or mahewu) is a thin, sour, nourishing drink of fermented maize porridge, made in homes across Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia and Botswana and drunk by farm workers, schoolchildren and anyone needing a filling lift on a hot afternoon. A little wheat flour or a spoonful of the last batch starts the fermentation overnight. Commercial cartons are sold everywhere, but home-made tastes fresher. Chef's tip: let the porridge cool to lukewarm before adding the starter; too hot and it kills the fermentation.

25 minDrinksVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kapenta with tomato

Kapenta are tiny freshwater sardines from Lake Kariba and Lake Tanganyika, sun-dried on racks along the shore and sold in markets from Lusaka to Harare. Cooked with onion, tomato and a little chilli, they become a savoury, crunchy relish that is eaten with nshima or sadza for a cheap, protein-rich weeknight meal. The mistake is skipping the rinse: dried kapenta carries sand and a strong smell, so soak and rinse it well. Chef's tip: fry the drained kapenta on its own first until crisp, then add the tomato, so it keeps some crunch.

30 minFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sadza with beef stew

Sadza ne nyama, sadza with meat, is the meal most Zimbabweans would call home: a stiff, smooth porridge of white maize meal shaped into rounds with a wooden spoon, served with a beef stew and a side of greens such as covo or rape. Families in Harare and Bulawayo eat it at lunch or supper, rolling a little sadza into a ball in the right hand and dipping it in the gravy. The mistake is adding all the maize meal at once, which makes lumps; stir in a paste first, then add the rest gradually. Chef's tip: let the porridge "rest and cook" under a lid for a few minutes between additions so the meal tastes cooked, not raw.

130 minMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mozambique peri-peri prawns

Maputo's waterfront restaurants and the beach shacks of Inhambane and Vilanculos are famous for their prawns: big shell-on prawns split down the back, painted with a sauce of piri-piri chilli, garlic, lime and butter and grilled over coals until the shells blister. You eat them with your fingers, sucking the sauce off the shells, with bread or chips. The mistake is overcooking, which turns them rubbery; they need only 2–3 minutes a side. Chef's tip: split the prawns through the shell and remove the dark vein, so the sauce gets right into the flesh.

25 minFishGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Frango à zambeziana

Frango à zambeziana comes from Quelimane and the Zambezia province of central Mozambique, where coconut palms line the coast: chicken is marinated in coconut milk, lime, garlic and piri-piri chilli, then grilled over coals and basted with the marinade, boiled down into a sauce. It is served with rice or xima (maize porridge) at weekend lunches. The mistake is basting with raw marinade right up to the end; boil it first so it is safe and turns into a creamy sauce. Chef's tip: spatchcock the chicken or use pieces so it grills evenly.

70 minChickenGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Moamba de galinha

Moamba de galinha is the national dish of Angola, cooked in Luanda for Sunday lunch and family celebrations: chicken simmered in a deep orange sauce of palm oil (or palm-nut cream), tomato, garlic and chilli, with okra and butternut squash. It is served with funge, a smooth cassava porridge, which is dipped into the sauce. The mistake is frying red palm oil over high heat, which makes it bitter; heat it gently. Chef's tip: marinate the chicken in lemon and garlic first; the sourness balances the rich sauce.

80 minChickenGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Seswaa

Seswaa is Botswana's national dish, made by the men at weddings, funerals and Independence Day in great three-legged pots over fires: beef on the bone is boiled with only onion, bay and salt for hours until it falls apart, then pounded with a wooden spoon into soft shreds in its own fat. It is served with pap (stiff maize porridge) or samp and a side of greens. The mistake is adding too much water at the end; the meat should be moist, not soupy, so let the liquid cook away before pounding. Chef's tip: use a mix of brisket and shin on the bone for flavour and richness.

225 minMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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