by ZOHRA ALY
by ZOHRA ALY
Long before scrapbooking became
those foods.
popular, my creative mother gathered up
Hundreds of years ago, merchants from
snapshots of my childhood into an album;
the Persian and Arabian Gulf made the East
musty photographs underlined with captions.
African
Important and everyday moments of my life
trade of exotic spices from India and the East
in words and pictures. One picture shows me
Indies, to the Middle East and Europe. These
aged around four or five, reluctantly posing on
spices – cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon – found
the trunk of a coconut palm on Bamburi beach,
their way into East African cooking. In the 16th
Mombasa, on the Kenyan coast.
Century, Portuguese sea-traders arrived, and
Soon after that photo was taken, my mother and I left Kenya. Pictures of me in that dress
island of Zanzibar their base for
brought with them ingredients like corn, beans, tomatoes, pineapple, bananas and cassava.
reappear in my album at a birthday party on a
The last wave of migration into Kenya was
different continent. But the tastes of my African
during the British colonial era, in the late 19th and
childhood stayed with me during a nomadic
early 20th Century. While the British imparted
life, and I’m still drawn to eating and cooking
only their fondness for tea to the locals, Indian
SUMMER 2012-13 // PAGE 87
the outside, and comfortingly soft and carbohydrate-dense in the mouth. Huge woks brimming with oil perched on makeshift gas stoves and into these the vendors would drop cassava circles straight off the slicer, spreading out mohogo chips onto sheets of The Nation to soak up the oil. Licking the salt and chilli merchants and workers who came with them
burned my tongue and my lips, but the fire could
had a much larger impact on coastal cuisine,
only be quenched by sipping cool madafu: sweet
inspiring the fusion of mellow Swahili and
coconut water sipped through a straw straight
spicy Indian flavours that it is today. Deep-fried
out of the coconut. The sellers, Africans in their
samosas and kachoris, wheat chapatis, rice
teens, would expertly manoeuvre a foot-long
dishes like pilau and biryani, and condiments
knife to slice off the top of the coconut, then
called chutneys have all sneaked into Kenyan
turn it around and shave away the hard shell.
cuisine over the years.
After I had finished drinking the water, I would
My grandfather arrived in Kenya in the late
use the spoon carved from the coconut’s lid to
1930s to work on the railways in Nairobi,
scoop out the gelatinous flesh. If I was lucky
the inland capital, and settled his family in
and it was fresh, this malai, or coconut cream,
Mombasa when he retired. My memories of
would be a thin, sweet melt-in-your-mouth
Mombasa, where I was born, are of time spent
layer.
at the seaside or the Lighthouse. On Sunday
The ubiquitous coconut palms are as famous
evenings, we would go to watch the sun sink
for providing shade and photo opportunities
into the ocean as ships slipped over the horizon.
on the beach as they are for their fruit. The
Street vendors tempted the crowds with
creamy flesh inside the coconut is also used
flavours that gave every tastebud a workout.
to make milk and cream for cooking. My aunt
Large grills with coals were used to roast
cooks invented curries using local ingredients
sweetcorn cobs and logs of cassava, known as
like pigeon peas, cassava, or raw bananas, some
mohogo. The corn was speckled black and yellow,
rebirthed by being smothered in coconut milk.
rubbed with half a lime and sprinkled liberally
Kuku Paka is a Swahili take on chicken curry.
with chilli and salt. The cassava was charred on
It retains some of the spices and heat inherent in
SUMMER 2012-13 // PAGE 88
curries, but the silky gravy comes from the rich
I was taught this version of Kuku Paka by my
combination of coconut milk and cream. When
late mother-in-law, whom I admired as much
refrigerated and left to set, coconut cream will
for her recipes as for her ingenious shortcuts to
rise to the top and separate from the milk.
great-tasting food.
Kuku Paka - Chicken in coconut gravy Ingredients 1 chicken, skinned, and cut into 8-10 pieces 1 tsp ginger paste 1 tsp garlic paste 1 cup water 1 tsp salt 1 tsp turmeric powder ½ tsp red chilli powder 400ml coconut cream 1 green chilli, slit in half, with the stalk left intact 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander 2 tbsp lemon juice Method 1. Place the chicken pieces in a heavy-bottomed pot with the water. Add the ginger, garlic, salt, turmeric powder, and chilli powder. If you like flavours a little hotter, chop another green chilli finely, and add to the pot. 2. Cover, and let the chicken simmer gently for 30-40 minutes, till the chicken is cooked. 3. Once the chicken is cooked, there should be half the quantity or less of water in the pot. If there is more, allow it to boil off, otherwise the gravy will be too thin. 4. Turn the heat right down, then add the coconut cream, stirring gently to ix with the water, till the gravy takes on the yellow colour of the turmeric, and starts coating the chicken pieces. 5. Allow the gravy to thicken, and the chicken and coconut flavours to marry, keeping the heat on low all the time. This should take about 10-15 minutes. 6. Finally, add the green chilli and lemon juice, and stir well. Sprinkle with chopped coriander to garnish. 7. Serve with boiled Basmati rice, or Naan.
Long before scrapbooking became
those foods.
popular, my creative mother gathered up
Hundreds of years ago, merchants from
snapshots of my childhood into an album;
the Persian and Arabian Gulf made the East
musty photographs underlined with captions.
African
Important and everyday moments of my life
trade of exotic spices from India and the East
in words and pictures. One picture shows me
Indies, to the Middle East and Europe. These
aged around four or five, reluctantly posing on
spices – cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon – found
the trunk of a coconut palm on Bamburi beach,
their way into East African cooking. In the 16th
Mombasa, on the Kenyan coast.
Century, Portuguese sea-traders arrived, and
Soon after that photo was taken, my mother and I left Kenya. Pictures of me in that dress
island of Zanzibar their base for
brought with them ingredients like corn, beans, tomatoes, pineapple, bananas and cassava.
reappear in my album at a birthday party on a
The last wave of migration into Kenya was
different continent. But the tastes of my African
during the British colonial era, in the late 19th and
childhood stayed with me during a nomadic
early 20th Century. While the British imparted
life, and I’m still drawn to eating and cooking
only their fondness for tea to the locals, Indian
SUMMER 2012-13 // PAGE 87
the outside, and comfortingly soft and carbohydrate-dense in the mouth. Huge woks brimming with oil perched on makeshift gas stoves and into these the vendors would drop cassava circles straight off the slicer, spreading out mohogo chips onto sheets of The Nation to soak up the oil. Licking the salt and chilli merchants and workers who came with them
burned my tongue and my lips, but the fire could
had a much larger impact on coastal cuisine,
only be quenched by sipping cool madafu: sweet
inspiring the fusion of mellow Swahili and
coconut water sipped through a straw straight
spicy Indian flavours that it is today. Deep-fried
out of the coconut. The sellers, Africans in their
samosas and kachoris, wheat chapatis, rice
teens, would expertly manoeuvre a foot-long
dishes like pilau and biryani, and condiments
knife to slice off the top of the coconut, then
called chutneys have all sneaked into Kenyan
turn it around and shave away the hard shell.
cuisine over the years.
After I had finished drinking the water, I would
My grandfather arrived in Kenya in the late
use the spoon carved from the coconut’s lid to
1930s to work on the railways in Nairobi,
scoop out the gelatinous flesh. If I was lucky
the inland capital, and settled his family in
and it was fresh, this malai, or coconut cream,
Mombasa when he retired. My memories of
would be a thin, sweet melt-in-your-mouth
Mombasa, where I was born, are of time spent
layer.
at the seaside or the Lighthouse. On Sunday
The ubiquitous coconut palms are as famous
evenings, we would go to watch the sun sink
for providing shade and photo opportunities
into the ocean as ships slipped over the horizon.
on the beach as they are for their fruit. The
Street vendors tempted the crowds with
creamy flesh inside the coconut is also used
flavours that gave every tastebud a workout.
to make milk and cream for cooking. My aunt
Large grills with coals were used to roast
cooks invented curries using local ingredients
sweetcorn cobs and logs of cassava, known as
like pigeon peas, cassava, or raw bananas, some
mohogo. The corn was speckled black and yellow,
rebirthed by being smothered in coconut milk.
rubbed with half a lime and sprinkled liberally
Kuku Paka is a Swahili take on chicken curry.
with chilli and salt. The cassava was charred on
It retains some of the spices and heat inherent in
SUMMER 2012-13 // PAGE 88
curries, but the silky gravy comes from the rich
I was taught this version of Kuku Paka by my
combination of coconut milk and cream. When
late mother-in-law, whom I admired as much
refrigerated and left to set, coconut cream will
for her recipes as for her ingenious shortcuts to
rise to the top and separate from the milk.
great-tasting food.
Kuku Paka - Chicken in coconut gravy Ingredients 1 chicken, skinned, and cut into 8-10 pieces 1 tsp ginger paste 1 tsp garlic paste 1 cup water 1 tsp salt 1 tsp turmeric powder ½ tsp red chilli powder 400ml coconut cream 1 green chilli, slit in half, with the stalk left intact 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander 2 tbsp lemon juice Method 1. Place the chicken pieces in a heavy-bottomed pot with the water. Add the ginger, garlic, salt, turmeric powder, and chilli powder. If you like flavours a little hotter, chop another green chilli finely, and add to the pot. 2. Cover, and let the chicken simmer gently for 30-40 minutes, till the chicken is cooked. 3. Once the chicken is cooked, there should be half the quantity or less of water in the pot. If there is more, allow it to boil off, otherwise the gravy will be too thin. 4. Turn the heat right down, then add the coconut cream, stirring gently to ix with the water, till the gravy takes on the yellow colour of the turmeric, and starts coating the chicken pieces. 5. Allow the gravy to thicken, and the chicken and coconut flavours to marry, keeping the heat on low all the time. This should take about 10-15 minutes. 6. Finally, add the green chilli and lemon juice, and stir well. Sprinkle with chopped coriander to garnish. 7. Serve with boiled Basmati rice, or Naan.
