Category: food

Katogo

~ Sophie ~ 2 Comments

This week, I would like us to talk about katogo . What do yo love most about it?  I googled katogo and found a Wikipedia page dedicated to it. That is good news. I’m sure we all have grown on eaten katogo at one point in our lives.  Katogo is one of the dishes that define Uganda. But then the thing is that you can absolutely customize it to your preference. It is also quick food. You know, chopping up things and throwing (not literary) them in a pan and letting them boil, right? When I made this katogo, people were hungry and needed to eat thus the simplicity though they still bore with me as I took a few snaps of it before it was devoured.

What you will need:

Irish potatoes, peeled and halved

Tomatoes, diced

Onions, sliced

Groundnut powder

Salt

 

Method

In a pan, add all the ingredients with enough salt and water and let the food boil. Stir occasionally to make sure it does not burn (because groundnuts burn easily) while checking the water content. Let it boil till the Irish potatoes are tender. Remove from fire and serve hot.

What katogo combination do you prefer or like cooking the most? What totally radical combination would you like to try or make? This is a basic recipe but I would like to make tilapia, cassava, sukuma wiki and whole roasted groundnuts in beef stock.  That is still edible. No?

Comment below to let me know.

 

In other slightly related news, there will be major changes to the blog from now on wards. There will be rebranding, a change in the domain name and other small things to improve the blog. The changes are for the greater good.  The content will still be the same though. I wanted to mention this beforehand so that you are all aware. Thanks for reading.

 

🙂

Sophie

 

PS: I did not put any measurements on this katogo recipe because I believe we have different serving sizes and the number of people we are cooking for varies greatly.

PPS: You can use groundnut paste instead of the powder.

Stir-Fried Macaroni (Pasta)

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

Are you a fan of stir-fried food? This recipe is somewhere between stir-fried vegetables and noodles. I first attempted this on the Christmas of last year. It came out perfect. And by perfect I mean everyone loved it (even those who don’t fancy pasta in general). But I felt there was something missing. Then a few weeks ago, I had purchased soy sauce and recreated the recipe. The soy sauce changed the overall quality of the dish. As much as this pasta is stir-fried, I justify it with adding plenty of vegetables ha! This pasta dish works great as a main dish and as of right now, I have made it more than three times in a span of just two weeks. It’s that good!

What you will need:

500 grams Spaghetti pasta

5 Medium carrots, thinly sliced lengthwise

4 Large green peppers, thinly sliced lengthwise

2 Large purple onions, thinly sliced lengthwise

1 Tbsp. Ginger, finely chopped

3 Tbsp. cooking oil

½ Tsp Black pepper

6 Tbsp soy sauce

Salt

2 Handfuls roast groundnuts

1 Lemon

 

Method

Break the pasta sticks into three equal parts. Fill a medium-sized pan with water and let it reach boiling point. Remove lid from the pan and add the pasta. Sprinkle a little salt in the pasta while it cooks and make sure to stir occasionally to avoid clamping of the pasta strands. After 5-7 minutes, drain the pasta, wash with cold water and set aside. Over high heat, pour oil in a larger pan and let it cook for one minute. Add ginger and let it saute for one minute while stirring. Next add salt, and then the pasta.  Keep stirring the pasta using a fork and a wooden spoon (mingling stick).  After two minutes, add the onions and stir till they are evenly distributed in the pasta for two minutes. Add the green pepper and the carrots while distributing them evenly in the pasta.  In a separate bowl, add the soy sauce and dilute it with 6 tablespoons of water and mix well. Sprinkle the soy mixture in the pasta while stirring till also even distributed. Keep adding the soy sauce till it is over while constantly mixing. Make sure it does not burn. Remove from fire.  Coarsely crush the groundnuts (either in a grinder or manually with a glass) and sprinkle them on top of the pasta. Squeeze the lemon over the pasta (make sure the seeds are sieved). Serve Hot.

 

Have a great week

 

🙂

 

Sophie

 

Ps: You can add more soy sauce for more flavor and color

PPS: If you don’t like the crunchy texture of the groundnuts, you can finely grind them and add them in the pasta while it is still cooking, right before it is removed from fire, to achieve an overall nutty taste.

PPPS: Soy sauce is found in major supermarkets in Kampala

 

Fried Ntula With Mukene Powder

~ Sophie ~ 7 Comments

So I am in this dilemma as of the moment. These ntula are called ntula in the local luganda dialect. I cannot call them eggplants because that will change the whole meaning since eggplants are called bilinganya. But that’s not all. There are two types of ntula. The green slightly bitter ones and the white bland ones (which a great for stews because you can work with them anyhow by infusing any flavour or style you desire). Bottom line is that, these darlings will be called ntula until I find out their English name.

I’m sure most of you have had plans in at one point in your life and probably still do. That is a good thing. A week earlier I read an article and I felt it speak to me. We all make plans but in the end, they may work out or may not and that is life. I have learnt to make peace with that fact. This dish is one that I extensively planned in my head but at the last minute, a suggestion to add mukene powder changed everything. And now that I think about it, I realize the dish was actually meant to have mukene.

Among the two kinds I preferred using the green slightly bitter ones because the bitterness adds character

What you will need
14 Ntulas, chopped
5 Tomatoes, chopped
1 C. Ground mukene
1 Onion, chopped
1 Tsp. Fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. Cooking oil

2 Tbsp. Maize flour
3 Tbsp. Soy sauce
Salt

 

Method
In a cooking pan, pour cooking oil. Add salt and ginger
then stir for one minute. Add onions and tomatoes then
stir for a minute. Cover the pan and let the tomatoes
cook for five to eight minutes. Check if they are soft and
tender. If so, add the ntula and cover them for ten
minutes while stirring occasionally. Stir in the mukene
powder. In a separate bowl, dilute the soy sauce with
three tablespoons of water; add the maize flour and
mix. While stirring, pour the mixture in the cooking pan.
Continue stirring for a minute, and then remove from
fire. Serve

🙂

Sophie