Today our African Culinary journey takes us to the heart of Zimbabwe.
Considered a delicacy in Zimbabwe, mopane worms are sourced from mopane trees. These worms are prepared by boiling, draining, and simmering them with tomatoes, onions, and spices.
They are commonly served with sadza, a maize-based porridge.
This is one of the many Zimbabwean traditional delicacies and a definite no-no for others. For those in the latter group, it could be a fear factor (according to some of my friends) or perhaps just a matter of preference. Madora are pretty easy to cook as they don’t require much. Madora are common in certain regions of Zimbabwe particularly those in the south and bordering Botswana and South Africa. An entire industry exists in Zimbabwe and bordering countries to process and bring this traditional delicacy to dinner tables across the vast southern African region.
Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 Servings ~ 15 minutes
- 400g madora
- Shallots (1 stem)
- 1 1/2 tomatoes
- 1/2 onion (chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon of ginger
- 4 teaspoons of curry powder
- 1 teaspoon salt1/2 ground black pepper
- Oil for frying
Quick Instructions
Soak madora in boiling water for 10 minutes. Get your other ingredients ready which are: 1/2 teaspoon of ginger, 4 teaspoon curry powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 ground black pepper, and oil for frying.
Drain your madora using a colander and rinse them. Heat oil in a pan, add your garlic and ginger, and swirl.
Add madora and cook stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. Add curry powder and stir. Add onions and stir until the onions are done (about 2 min)
Add tomatoes and stir again until they are cooked (2 min). Finally, add shallots and stir until everything is mixed and blended in (1 min).
And your delicacy is ready and ready to serve with plain sadza.
Sadza is one of the most common foods in Zimbabwe. Not surprisingly so as it is a staple food! Every household partakes of sadza nenyama nemuriwo (pap, meat, and leafy vegetables) almost every day, be it supper or lunch. It is also one of the first foods that babies are given, usually at 6 months (some do it even earlier).
A lot of people have different approaches to making this but this is how I was taught and it still comes out just as fine! So, I hope this recipe with the pictorial instructions that follow will help someone, both young and old.
How to make plain Sadza
Ingredients:
- 4 Servings ~ 25
- 7 scoops mealie-meal
- 1 cup cold water
- 750 ml boiling water
Instructions:
Put mealie-meal in a pot. Add cold water to make a paste. Put the pot on the stove and add boiling water whilst stirring simultaneously.
Keep stirring until rakukwata (it’s boiling). Cover the pot, reduce the heat and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, add more mealie-meal bit by bit, and as we say it in our vernacular, mona sadza (mix). Be sure to do it well. Stir simultaneously to avoid getting lumps.
When it’s just about to reach the consistency you want, cover it rishinyire (loosely translated- let it simmer) for 5 minutes. Your sadza is ready. Serve with your preferred relish.
So, whenever you are in Zimbabwe or Botswana, do well to make sure you taste and enjoy the beautiful dish of Mopane Worms served with Sadza.
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Source: www.zimbokitchen.com
