Tag: FUSION COOKING

Easy Sautéed Mukene

~ Sophie ~ 9 Comments

I finally got to share a mukene recipe. Mukene is so versatile it is a kitchen staple in our house. Mukene has gotten a bad name for the longest time and I was part of the craze. Firstly because of the fishy smell, secondly, the tiny bones that may or may not pierce you when you eat and thirdly, the bitter heads. All this is enough to make someone avoid mukene altogether. And I did for most of my child and teenage hood because ‘why cannot we just have real fish?’ was my constant argument. I realized though that it is a matter of perspective. As smelly as it is, mukene is filled with flavor on its own it doesn’t need a lot of ingredients. Plus after reading about its awesomeness here and here, you will be convinced to try it.

GET RECIPE HERE 

 

🙂

Sophie

 

Tea Masala Sweet Potato Rolls

~ Sophie ~ 11 Comments

There is a certain joy in baking I have discovered. Watching the chemistry that unfolds right before your eyes is amazing. Charcoal stove baking is even more adventurous and exciting. Using your instincts to regulate the temperature of the  make shift oven. Some creations fail miserably and some come out far better that you expect. I cannot say I am a charcoal stove baking expert yet but I have made these rolls on more than one occasion. Each moment, they did not disappoint. This recipe is inspired by the sweet potato cookies I made a few weeks ago. I cannot even begin to describe how wonderful they are. Tea masala adds a spicy kick to the rolls. Serve these with tea and you will not want to get out of that warm comfortable place especially with this weather.

 

What  you will need: 

Dough

4 C. Baking flour

¼ C +2 Tbsp. Sugar

1 Tsp. Tea masala

1 C. Milk (warm enough for the yeast to rise)

¼ C. Oil

2 Eggs

2 ½ Tsp. Active dry yeast

A pinch of salt

Filling

1 ½ C. Sweet Potatoes (boiled and drained)

¼ C. Milk

¼ C. Sugar

2 Tbsp. Tea masala

½ Tsp. Cinnamon

 

Method

Dough

Stir sugar in the milk. Add yeast and set aside for 5 minutes. Sift the flour in a bowl. Add the 2 tablespoons of sugar, salt and tea masala and mix well.  In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and oil till it becomes thick. Once the yeast has become frothy, pour the egg-oil mixture in the yeasted milk and stir well.  Pour the mixture in the flour and mix using a fork.  Knead with your hands till dough is formed. Cover the bowl and set aside in a warm place for  40 minutes.

Filling

In a bowl, mash the sweet potatoes with a fork. Add the milk, sugar, tea masala and cinnamon and mix well.

Once the forty minutes are up and the dough has doubled in size,  punch it and knead it some more for thirty seconds. Roll out the dough to about ½ an inch in thickness. Add the sweet potato filling and distribute it evenly. Roll the dough and cut  the rolls about an inch in width.  Arrange the rolls in a greased pan in two layers. Set aside and let the rolls rise for another 20 minutes.

While the rolls are rising, light a charcoal stove. Get two large aluminium pans (They have to be large enough for the cake/bread pan to fit in). Put ash in one pan (about two inches of ash). Put the pan with ash on the stove and cover that pan with the second pan. This is the ‘preheat’ moment. After  the rolls have risen for 20 minutes, put them in the oven. And bake for 45 minutes. To evenly regulate the temperature, add charcoal on top of the top pan after 25 minutes of baking.

I hope you get to try baking these rolls because amazing is an understatement.

 

🙂

Sophie

 

Disclaimer: This post is part of the monthly link up party Our Growing Edge. This event aims to connect food bloggers and inspire us to try new things. This month is hosted by  Lauren from Sweet and Southern Lifestyle with the theme Holiday Baking

Classic Katogo: Irish Potatoes, Yams and Sweet Potatoes with Beans

~ Sophie ~ 10 Comments

If  ever there is a list of comfort foods here in Uganda, katogo must be first on that list. Katogo basically means  adding whatever ingredients available in a sauce pan and putting them on a stove until everything is cooked. It is that simple.  Aside from the tedious task of peeling the potatoes and yams before hand, katogo is the kind of comfort food that is effortless. I decided to combine three tubers; sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes and yams (the purple kind). The tubers give the meal a warm earthy flavor while the beans add richness making it ideal for  gloomy weather.

What you will need:

Onions, chopped

Garlic cloves, finely chopped

Tomatoes, chopped

Yams, halved

Sweet potatoes, halved

Irish potatoes, halved

Beans, boiled

Green onion(as garnish), finely chopped

Cooking oil

Chilli oil, a few drops

Curry powder

Salt

Method

On high fire, Add cooking oil to the a sauce pan and let it get hot. Add the garlic and onions and wait for them to become translucent. Add the tomatoes, chilli oil, curry powder and salt and stir. Add the Irish potatoes first, then the yams and then the sweet potatoes. Top with the beans and cover pan for about 10 minutes. Add half a glass of water and stir so that the beans are evenly distributed. Let the Katogo cook till the Irish potatoes are soft and tender.  Remove from fire and serve warm.

To make a soupy katogo, add more water. I did not put any specific measurements to the ingredients because when making katogo, we don’t measure. Instincts are used depending on how many people are to be cooked for. Clearly I was cooking for a full house and thus the large tray.

 

I hope you enjoy making and eating this katogo because it is comfort food and the weather allows so. Also, what are your favorite katogo ingredients?

 

Have a great week.

 

🙂

Sophie