This recipe has quite a back story to go along with it. My father-in-law spent some of his adolescence living in Tanzania because his parents were missionaries. My husband’s grandfather was headmaster of a school there (which was dedicated and turned into a university in 2007). As an adult, my father-in-law began leading cultural safaris. These aren’t the luxurious, animal park safaris that many expect. These are real, sleeping in a tent, animals walking around you, meeting Masaii tribesmen kind of safaris where you get an up close view of the culture. I’ve now known him for 12 years and he has been fortunate enough to lead at least one safari per year, if not more when the interest is there. Now, he is a retired educator, so through the years, these safaris were led during breaks and holidays around his teaching schedule. But, after a couple years out of schools (I can’t say relaxing because he kept himself busy), he decided to take up the university on their standing offer to come teach there.
He got everything sorted and headed out in March last year to spend nearly six months living on campus in Tanzania teaching at Sebastian Kolowa Memorial University. He was given a small house to use while he was there with two rooms and a dirt floor. Unfortunately, his house was a good three quarters of a mile from the canteen, so meals either meant walking (not ideal during monsoon season) or making something small in his modest kitchen. That’s where this recipe comes in. We heard about chapatis loads of times from him. The nearest market was a decent walk away and loaves of sliced bread are not exactly common, so his solution was making chapatis- extremely easy to whip up and no worries about it going bad because you make them as you need them. Chipatis were his bread for dipping in soup, making grilled cheese, and peanut butter sandwiches (when he could get PB).
With decided that our new recipe this week should include chapatis, but as its only really a bread, we needed a main course to go with it. After a little research, we found an eastern African recipe for Sukuma Wiki, Swahili for “stretch the week,” which used many of our favourite things, such as kale, tomatoes, etc. We put the sukuma wiki on couscous to soak up some of the juices and used the chapatis to scoop or wrap it up. Delish!
Chapatis
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cooking oil
warm water, as needed
Directions:
All ingredients should be allowed to come to room temperature if they have been in the refrigerator.
Mix flour and salt in a bowl.
Slowly mix in enough water to make a thick dough.
Mix in one spoonful oil.
Knead dough on a cool surface for a few minutes, adding a few spoonfuls of dry flour.
Return dough to the bowl, cover with a clean cloth, and let it rest for thirty minutes.
Lightly grease (with cooking oil) and pre-heat a skillet or griddle.
Divide the dough into eight pieces and roll them into balls. Dough will be dry and elasticy. Flatten them into six-inch circles. Fry them in the skillet or griddle, turning once, until each side is golden brown and spotted.
Place in warm oven as they are done and serve with butter and any curry, stew or soup dish.
Sukuma Wiki
Ingredients:
Oil or fat — 3 tablespoons
Onion, chopped or minced — 1
Kale or collard greens, destemmed and finely chopped — 2 pounds
Tomatoes, chopped — 2 cups
Water or stock — 1 cup
Salt and pepper — to taste
Method:
Heat the oil or fat over medium-high flame in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Add the onion and sauté until translucent. Add the greens in batches, sautéing each addition until wilted.
Add the tomatoes, water or stock, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer gently until tender, from 20 to 30 minutes.
Adjust seasoning and serve with a little bit of the broth.
Variations:
Add a chopped chili pepper or two with the onions if you like.
Some recipes call for thickening the dish with a flour-lemon juice mixture. Here’s how: mix 2 tablespoons of flour well with the juice of 1 lemon and a little water. Stir into the greens after they have been simmering for about 10 minutes. Continue simmering for another 15 to 20 minutes until the dish is slightly thickened.
If you like, add some leftover meat for more flavor. Kenyans would most likely use goat or beef.
An American Vegan in London 