Rice and Beans for a Mzungu in Tanzania

Reflections from Leisha Adams (Leisha is the Lahash Sponsorship Director and resides in Tanzania. You can visit her blog at http://leishainafrica.blogspot.com/)

At the beginning of the month, walk to the market to purchase the rice, beans, cooking oil, charcoal and kerosene. Spend several minutes in greetings with the owner of the booth of your preference, then buy several kilos of rice and several kilos of beans and a few litres of cooking oil. Walk to another shop to purchase a litre of kerosene, given in an abandoned water bottle. Walk to another shop to purchase a large bag of charcoal. Return home and store the food where cockroaches, lizards, and mice will not have access. Purchase carrots, onions, tomatoes, and green peppers from the local produce stand in the days before cooking.

On the day of the meal, measure the beans into a wide, flat basket and remove debris. Wash the beans thoroughly, and put in a large pot. Fill pot to the brim with water. Fill the charcoal burner with charcoal, and use small kindling to get a good, hot fire among the coals. Place the pot of beans on the burner. Bring to boil, and leave cooking until beans are soft. Drain off and reserve remaining water. Wash and chop up onions, carrots, green peppers, and grate tomatoes. Fry some onions in oil with the grated tomatoes and diced carrots and peppers. Leave cooking until soft, then add the beans, and cook for approximately ten minutes. Add salt and the reserved “bean water”. Cook for another several minutes until the water thickens into a kind of “soup”.

Measure the rice into the wide, flat basket. Pick out the small rocks, twigs, and bad grains. Pour the rice into a basin of water and wash thoroughly, then pull the rice out of the water by the handful, carefully pressing the water out of each handful. Place the rice in a pot with fresh water and a little oil. Fill the cooker with kerosene and raise the wicks. Light a match and hold to each of the eight kerosene-soaked wicks. Replace the cooking platform over the flame and place the pot of rice on the burner. Stir the rice occasionally until the grains start to absorb water, then cover and leave to cook until the rice has absorbed all of the water.

Move the beans and rice into serving dishes and carry to the table, where the cook is expected to pray for a blessing on the food. Load a plate with a heaping serving of rice, then cover the rice with the soup from the beans, then spoon the beans and veg over the rice.

If your appetite for the traditional “wali na maharage” is somewhat abated, a generous splash of Tabasco or local “pili pili” spice will give you a little different flavor and renew your enthusiasm for the national food of Tanzania.