Day 184: Uganda and Luwombo

Welcome back, Raffies!

Today we are starting the last two weeks of our challenge! It's been such a great adventure so far. I have learnt so much about what people eat on a daily basis in other countries. And fun fact, I now have even more things I would like to try and so much more to discover.

Anyways, today we are going to Uganda and we are making a traditional dish: Luwombo. It is steamed meat and vegetables with plantains. Doesn't sound like much, but it is actually wonderful.

The sauce turns out to be incredibly smooth, yet slightly crunchy due to the crushed peanuts. As for the meat, you'll mostly find chicken, but other types of meat are also used.

The Ugandan cuisine added to its own traditions, some Arab and British influence, creating something really unique. So let's get cooking!

The recipe I used today is simple, if you are great at making the packages of banana leaves to be steamed. Unfortunately, mine looked like an accident, so I didn't dare to share them with you :(

500 g chicken, cut into bite-size chunks
2 tbsp peanut oil
2 onions, sliced or chopped
1 c mushrooms, sliced
1 c peanuts, ground
4 tomatoes, chopped
1 chicken stock cube
3 plantains, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tbsp ground smoked fish (optional)
Banana leaves
salt
pepper

Start by frying the meat until brown. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add a bit of oil to the pan and fry the onions, until slightly caramelised - this will take about 5-10 minutes.
Add the mushrooms, tomatoes, chicken stock cube, peanut and the smoked fish. Cook until the sauce becomes smooth and dense. It might be that you have to add some water to it.
Put your banana leaves in hot water to soften them up. Place some meat and some sauce into them and fold them and tie them like a package. Repeat until all the ingredients are used up.
Take out your steamer, place your pockets in it and the plantains. Cover and cook for about 1 hour.
Remove the packages from your steamer and serve. Enjoy!

I liked the consistency of the plantain, that reminded me of mashed potatoes and the sauce, I am repeating myself, was just so incredibly smooth and lovely.


Love,

Raffi