Sweet Potato Parsley Chapati

June 22, 2016April 3, 2018 ~ Sophie ~ 10 Comments

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Have you caught up on the rolex bandwagon? You should because 2016 is the year of the rolex. CNN confirmed it here. In fact it needs a hashtag of its own! I am already dreaming of the many ways I am planning to recreate it aside from this one. But first there is perfecting the chapati recipe which is what I will be talking about today.I am sure you all kitchen enthusiast have made chapati at least once in your lifetime. I have encountered many versions. and I believe this is what makes chapati very special. There is a standard formula but you will most likely find everyone cooking it based on what they have, their preferences and where they come from. A few weeks ago I was watching a video on chapati making and Miriam stressed very well how East African chapati is fried in oil. In fact there is even deep-fried chapati too! Totally Awesome. So here is a version that I really love that is so filling and very soft because of the sweet potatoes incorporated in. Again this recipe can be adapted to your preferences. I prefer to pan fry this chapati because this gives it a crisp exterior and a moist soft interior. Also this chapati is more on the sweet side because of the sweet potatoes. They can be eaten on their own, with beans or as a rolex once you add an egg. Make these at the beginning of the week and you will be covered for the whole week.

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What you will need:

3 C. Sweet Potatoes

2 C. Baking flour

½ C. Warm water

¼ C. Parsley, finely chopped

1 Tbsp. Oil

Pinch of salt

Oil for frying

Observations:

The type of sweet potato will determine the color and sweetness of your chapatis
Have extra flour nearby for dusting the workplace and rolling pin
Over kneading the dough will cause the chapatis to get hard.
Roll the chapati according to your desired thickness.

Method

Peel the sweet potatoes and boil them till soft and tender. Measure three cups of boiled sweet potatoes and mash them finely. Add flour, salt, parsley and oil. Mix while adding water little by little until a firm dough is formed. Knead the dough for one minute. Set the dough aside for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, divide the dough into 9 equal balls. Dust the working surface and roll out the balls into chapati. Heat about a teaspoon of oil on medium heat. Add the chapati. Keep flipping every after 5-10 seconds until the chapati becomes fluffy-ish and has turned slightly golden brown. Remove from fire. Repeat the process till all the nine balls are done. Makes 9 Chapatis. Serve with your favourite sauce, stew or just fry an egg and have a homemade rolex on the go.

🙂

Sophie

Gourmand World Cookbook Win, A Survey and Instagram

May 24, 2016May 24, 2016 ~ Sophie ~ 4 Comments

So, I have some exciting news for you. But first, how was your weekend? Anything exciting that you did? ( leave a comment below!) Mine was quite low-key because weekdays can be hectic. OK. Now that you have left a comment below telling me about your weekend, let’s talk about the exciting news.

News One

Do you remember Seasonal Cooking e-cookbook (->) that was published almost a year ago? I wrote it on a whim because I wanted you lovely friends and readers to have a great time here and in your kitchens. . It has been an exciting journey ever since that day with over 250 downloads! I am grateful. The good news is that the e-book participated in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards competition as an entrant from Uganda. It won from the country. I was surprised because, like I said, it was created on a whim. Furthermore, the book made it to the top 2 cookbooks from Africa! Exciting is an understatement. Click here to -> see the short list. This award is dedicated to you all awesome readers who take time to come here week by week to read these words, get recipes to try and get inspired.

News Two

Because we are all in a happy moment right now, I wanted us to get to know each other more. I thought it would be a great idea to create this survey that will help me provide better content for you my friends and improve your experience here on the blog. So I am asking you to kindly spare 5 minutes to answer this short survey. Also share it with anyone who reads the blog. Click image to answer survey

News Three

We are officially on instagram! It took almost forever to make the leap but now I can say that AKIU’s instagram account is up and running. Head over there and follow for updates, sneak peeks and behind the blog awesomeness. Click on image to visit the account.

To summarize it all:

The Seasonal Cooking e-book won an international award here
There is a small and simple survey for you to answer as you anticipate great things to come *wink* here.
And lastly, follow AKIU on instagram for updates, sneak peeks and behind the blog awesomeness.

Have a great week.

🙂

Sophie

PS: If you haven’t got a copy of Seasonal Cooking for yourself, please do so now as I will be taking it down at the end of the month-May 31.

Gonja (Plantain) Donuts

April 15, 2016April 15, 2016 ~ Sophie ~ 18 Comments

There are a few banana plants in our backyard and every time we harvest a bunch (every time it is a different variety like gonja, bogoya, matooke and the kind that make juice — thanks to my parents) I learn something new about bananas in general. We had the privilege of harvesting plantain and I was inspired to write a blog post about it. Read the previous post. Then a crazy idea hit. What if we made plantain donuts? The plantain itself is already sweet and thus naturally sweetens the donuts.

In other totally unrelated news, we picked butiko A.K.A termite mushrooms last week. If you are unfamiliar, I wrote about them way back in 2014 here and made a pizza with them. Abundance (and probably a little too much) of rain came with a lot of benefits. The most exciting of them though, for me, was the growth of mushrooms in our front yard. We weren’t even aware until we saw people gathering over. Mothers, grandchildren, aunties, nieces and nephews were all gathered to collect these delicate mushrooms. The whole community knew. I learnt, from floating conversations, that these kind of mushrooms are quite pricey (two spoons for around 5000 shillings!); these mushrooms are medicinal (for what, I am yet to know); and that these mushrooms can actually be eaten raw. I did eventually try then raw and they are surprisingly packed with sharp flavour that is part nutty, mostly earthy and slightly salty. I am dreaming of making a raw butiko salad when they again grace us with their presence which will probably be next year. Nonetheless, it was an exciting experience.

Back to the donuts: These donuts are so easy to put together (I feel like I say this about almost every recipe but that is only because it is true) and create a mildly sweet soft and chewy taste that is plantain flavoured. They are quite a treat. Try them.

What you will need:
5 Ripe plantains
1 C. Flour
½ Tsp. Vanilla
¼ C. Milk
½ Tsp. Allspice
½ Tsp. Baking powder
Desiccated Coconut

Method
Mash the bananas. Add milk, vanilla and all spice. Mix well. Mix the baking powder with the flour. Gradually add flour till a firm dough forms. Spread out the dough with your hands till you have an inch of even thickness. Using a cookie cutter or any object that can cut shapes, cut out the dough and using a smaller object (think bottle cover) cut out the donut holes. Fry till golden brown. Sprinkle with coconut flakes. For the syrup, add 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup of sugar in a clean pan. Put on fire and let it boil. Remove from fire and let the syrup cool. Dip the donuts in the syrup and sprinkle with desiccated coconut.