AI-generated image
Smocha
Smocha: Nairobi's smoked sausage rolled in a soft chapati with kachumbari and chilli sauce
Smocha is a Nairobi invention: a smokie (a smoked pork sausage) rolled up in a chapati, which gives the snack its name. Glass-fronted handcarts keep the smokies hot in water on every corner of the CBD, along Moi Avenue and outside the University of Nairobi, and the sellers split them, add a spoon of fresh kachumbari salad and a squeeze of chilli sauce or ketchup, roll the lot in a chapati and twist it in paper. It is the cheap, filling bite students grab between lectures and workers eat on the walk to the matatu. It is not the same as smokie pasua, which is the sausage on its own with the salad. Chef's tip: drain the kachumbari well before it goes in, or the chapati turns soggy.
- Total time
- 15 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the kachumbari
- 2 ripe tomatoesdeseeded and finely diced
- 1 red onionsmall, finely diced
- 3 tbsp fresh corianderchopped
- 1 green chillifinely chopped
- ½ limejuiced
- 1 pinch salt
For the smocha
- 4 chapatis (dairy free)shop-bought or homemade
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (6)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Mix 2 ripe tomatoes, 1 red onion, 3 tbsp fresh coriander, 1 green chilli, ½ lime and 1 pinch salt in a bowl. Leave for 5 minutes, then tip into a sieve to drain off the juice.
5 minStep 2: Bring a pan of water to a gentle simmer, add 4 smoked pork sausages (smokies) and heat for 5 minutes, until piping hot to the centre (160°F).
5 minStep 3: Meanwhile warm 4 chapatis (dairy free) one at a time in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 30 seconds a side, until soft and pliable. Stack them under a clean cloth.
3 minStep 4: Split each smokie lengthwise without cutting right through. Lay it near one edge of a chapati, fill the split with kachumbari and spoon over 4 tbsp chilli sauce or tomato ketchup. Common mistake: overfilling; it spills out when you roll it.
2 minStep 5: Roll the chapati up tightly around the sausage and wrap the bottom half in paper or foil to hold it together. Eat straight away.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 420 kcal
- Protein
- 15 g
- Carbs
- 36 g
- Fat
- 24 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does smocha take?
- About 15 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 5 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of ripe tomatoes?
- Tinned chopped tomatoes: a 400g tin for about 6 tomatoes (in cooked dishes, not salads).
- What can I use instead of red onion?
- White onion or shallots, same amount (soak raw onion in cold water for 10 minutes to soften it).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Zapiekanka
Zapiekanka is Polish street food born in the 1970s and perfected at the hatch windows around Plac Nowy in Kraków's Kazimierz district, where students and night owls queue for one at midnight. Half a long baguette is topped with mushrooms fried with onion, covered in grated cheese and baked until crisp at the edges and bubbling, then finished with a zigzag of ketchup and chives. The classic version has no meat at all. Use a hard cheese made with vegetarian rennet (many supermarket mild Cheddars and Goudas are). Chef's tip: fry the mushrooms until completely dry before they go on the bread; wet mushrooms make the baguette soggy instead of crisp.
Polish
Pepito
When the bars close in Caracas, the queues form at the pepito stands of Las Mercedes and Altamira: long soft rolls stuffed with griddled strips of beef and chicken, grated cheese, lettuce and tomato, a crunchy handful of potato sticks and squiggles of garlic sauce, ketchup and mustard. It's messy, generous food, best eaten on the pavement. The common mistake is crowding the griddle, so the meat stews instead of searing. Chef's tip: cook the beef and chicken separately in a very hot pan, in small batches.
Venezuelan
Mazorca desgranada
Food trucks and street corners in Bogotá and Medellín sell mazorca desgranada in plastic tubs, late into the evening: sweet corn kernels cut off the cob, fried in butter and layered with shredded chicken, melted cheese, crunchy potato sticks, pineapple sauce and salsa rosada. Some stands add bacon, beef or quail eggs; this version keeps to chicken. It is sweet, salty and gooey, and a hit with teenagers. Using tinned corn without draining it well is a common error: the water dilutes the sauces and the tub gets soggy. Chef's tip: fry the corn until a few kernels brown and pop; that caramelised edge stands up to all the sweet sauces. For a vegetarian tub, skip the chicken and use a cheese made with microbial rennet.
Colombian