east african

creamy coconut cassava with chicken (mogo)

April 4, 2016 By Fareen Leave a Comment

One of my favourite East African meals to eat is Mogo. It’s a chicken or
beef dish with cassava in a creamy sauce. It’s pure comfort food but
also a great way to feed a crowd.

There are so many different ways to make this – with creamed coconut or
coconut milk, chunky or blended… This is my family’s version, the way I
grew up eating it.

Top this off with some cilantro and crushed up potato chips, a drizzle
of tamarind chutney, and you’ve got yourself a delicious dinner.

Creamy Coconut Cassava with Chicken (Mogo)

1 lb chicken, cut into pieces or cubes
2 tsp ginger
salt
2 1/2 cups water

800 g cassava, cut into cubes (2 small packages)
3 1/2 cups water
2 tomatoes, chopped
salt
1 150g box of creamed coconut
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp garlic
1 tsp cumin powder
cilantro

Cook chicken with ginger and salt until the chicken is cooked.
Boil cassava with tomatoes and salt and cook until the cassava is fork tender. Add the cooked chicken along with the liquid, the coconut and spices and cook for about half an hour. Add a handful of chopped cilantro and stir it into creamy mixture. Serve topped with cilantro and tamarind chutney.

al’s grill at amato gelato (chestermere)

February 29, 2016 By Fareen Leave a Comment

As great as it was to escape to paradise, it was nice to come home on the weekend. Sure we came back to a little cold and snow but there’s no place like home.

Since we hardly slept on the way home, we were exhausted and all of us had a nice long nap. We were starving when we woke up but had no desire to cook. Amato Gelato to the rescue!

Amato Gelato in Chestermere has opened a side business in their gelato shop, Al’s Grill. Al’s Grill features East African specialties like fried cassava, pili pili fries and chicken poussin.

We ordered the mishkaki chicken combo which came with 3 skewers of marinated chicken, salad, fries and naan. It was delicious! The chicken was flavourful and moist and I loved the skinny fries that it came with. The best part was that Z, who had refused to eat anything for a few meals, loved the chicken and devoured a couple of sticks of chicken. Made this mamma very happy!

We also had the fried cassava which was cooked to perfection. It was crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and perfect with the tamarind chutney that it came with.

We can’t wait to go back and enjoy some more of their delicious food. Next time, we will have to leave room for dessert! We are definitely lucky to have this gem in Chestermere. With great service and friendly owners, it’s definitely a business that deserves support.

vitumbua

January 20, 2015 By Fareen Leave a Comment

Hubby was away this weekend but we kept ourselves busy. Q and I made it to the movies to see Paddington, which I just loved! Set in London, it really made me miss the place. Definitely worth a visit soon!

Breakfast was a treat this weekend with my mom making vitumbua, an East African treat. Made with rice flour and coconut and flavoured with cardamom and nutmeg, these little cakes are brown almost crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

These are made in kadais, kind of like little cast iron woks.They can also be made in a dutch pancake pan. These are perfect for breakfast with a steaming cup of chai.

Vitumbua

2 lb rice flour
2 tsp instant yeast
3/4 of a 141 g package of pure creamed coconut
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp nutmeg
water

On the stove, combine 1/2 cup of water with the coconut until it is melted. Combine this with the flour and yeast and add enough water to make a thick batter. Keep overnight.
In the morning, to the yeast mixture, add eggs, sugar, cardamom and nutmeg. Mix well. Let this sit for half an hour.

If using a large kadai, add 2 TB of oil to each pan and heat the oil on high heat. Once heated, turn down the heat to medium, add 1/4 cup of batter and cook until brown. Turn using a couple of spoons or forks and continue cooking. Each vitumbua takes approximately 5 minutes to cook.