In the Kitchen

This blog post will be different than our normal posts, but we wanted to share with you one of the most common and most simple dishes to prepare here in Tanzania. It is eaten almost every day and is called mboga majani.

Translated directly, it is called vegetable of leaves. Each family prepares this dish with slight variations. Joy agreed to let me video how her family likes it! 

We made it with an equal amount of these two greens. I do not have the names of them in English but the small ones (as seen above) are a slightly bitter like kale. 

The large leafy one (above) is slightly prickly and very similar to spinach or swiss chard. You can substitute any leafy greens! It will taste more like the one prepared here if you use at least one semi bitter green. 

I only had one tomato today, but usually there are equal amounts of carrots and tomato. Some families also put in a bit of thick coconut milk when available. 

All in all, the recipe is quit simple and is composed of the following:

2 Roma type tomatos

1 medium carrot

2 small sweet purple onions

large bowel of assorted greens shredded finely

Salt to taste  

It is important to cut the greens very thin and fine for the final product to have texture. Generally it is paired with ugali (a thick corn paste) but many eat it with rice as well which is my preference. Of course the kids prefer the ugali as they can then eat with their fingers :) 

All the instructions are in the video below. Maybe give it a try and then let us know what you think!