This is a traditional  wild rice Zimbabwean rice usual served with dovi 'peanut butter". Below is the recipe so that you too can indulge.

Mupunga une dovi

1 cup rice
3 cups water
2 tablespoons peanut butter

1.Cook rice in boiling water until soft.
2.Stir in peanut butter until well combined.
3.Serve with a meat stew or as a main meal.

Magaka is a Shona word for jelly melon.They are widely in abundance during rainy season and are usually eaten with salt or sugar.One day out of the blue l thought of squeezing the juice out and making it to a drink.Here is a recipe  I used:

Magaka drink "Jelly melon drink"

8 Medium jelly melon
2 tablespoons sugar


1.Remove thorns and wash melon.
2.Cut in half and squeeze juice[seeds will also come out].
3.Mix with sugar.
4.Chill and serve.

MATEMBA ANE DOVI

Kapenta is a type of fresh water sardines that originated from lake Tanganyika in East Africa.They were introduced into the lake Kariba in Zimbabwe.The name Kariba comes from the word Kariva meaning trap which refers to the rock jutting out from the gorge.it was believed by the Batonga to be home of the nyami-nyami and anyone who ventured near the rock was dragged down under water.Though there has been sightings of the nyami-nyami by local people there has never been an official recorded sighting of the creature.They are known as matemba in Zimbabwe and a cup can feed 3 people when cooked.They are caught during the night as they are attracted by light.The Batonga people lived on the banks of the lake many years ago,they believed in legendary creature NYAMI-NYAMI "ZAMBEZI RIVER GOD".They believed it controls the life in and on the river and his wife resides in the Kariba gorge.They were seperated by the wall and it is believed the frequent earth tremors felt in the area were caused by the spirit trying to reach his wife.it is a dragon like creature with a snake's torso and the head of a fish.Matemba can be fried and served with tomato sauce or with dovi"peanut butter".Here is my recipe for matemba:


MATEMBA ANE DOVI "PEANUT BUTTER MATEMBA"


1 cup dried matemba
1 small onion finely chopped
1 medium tomato chopped
60 mls oil


Soak matemba in warm water for 5mins and drain[ this is done to remove the excess salt in which the kapenta is dried in]. Heat oil and fry matemba for 5mins.Add onions and fry until onions are translucent.Add tomatoes and cook for another 5mins.Stir in dovi and mix until well combined.Serve with sadza.

Other types of sadza in zimbabwe

Sadza is the cornerstone of Zimbabwean food.The most popular is the white sadza made from finely grounded maize meal.There is also sadza rezviyo made from rapoko,this has a very deep brown colour.it is cooked like the white sadza and is served with meat stew or vegetable relish.sadza remhunga is made from grounded bulrush millet.it has a very nice smelland a light brown colour.Some even eat it alone without any meat or vegetables.There is also sadza remapfunde made from grounded sorghum.Mapfunde can be coarsely grounded and cooked to make rice ,this is boiled in salted water with oil.it is my favourite.These meals are found in supermarkets packed in 500g or 1kg packets and are highly expensive.Cheap meals can be found at Mbare musika market.These types of sadza are mostly eaten in rural areas and because the Zimbabwean cuisine is influenced by the british "former colonies" and a change is taking place and the art of traditional food is being lost ,people living in the city hardly eat traditional food.Though mhunga,zviyo and mapfunde meals are expensive they are highly nutritious.

Sadza nemunyevhe une dovi

Sadza is a staple food of Zimbabwe.it is a thick porridge made of fine mealie meal and water.it is more like polenta but more pliable.it is eaten by hands.You mold sadza into a ball and dip into your meat stew or leafy vegetable.Well cooked sadza does not stick on the fingers when eating.Sadza that sticks on fingers is called "mbodza" which means not properly cooked.There are many types of sadza and many ways to cook it.Thee will cover in next blogs.The traditional Zimbabwean kitchen is a round thatched hut which is separate from other rooms.In urban areas its another story ,you find beautiful house with beautiful kitchens.Sadza cooked over the fire tastes better than the one cooked on stove.In rural areas you find an African old lady bending gracefully over the fire cooking.Sadza is served with a meat stew or leafy greens.Today I am cooking sadza and munyevhe with peanut butter.Munyevhe is a weed that grows during rainy seasons.it has a bitter taste but thats what makes it different.Dovi means peanut butter in shona

With Iove from my zimbabwean kitchen.

Let me introduce myself. My name is lydia.I am fairly new to blogging but l hope you will enjoy what l have to offer and your comments are greatly welcomed.its sad the art of cooking traditional food is being lost with the introduction of machine ground mealie meal which is not as best as the traditional one which is grinded by mortar and pestel.its rainy season at the moment and food is in abundance that is chibage-maize,nzungu-groundnuts,hwowa-wild mushroom,nyimo-black eyed peas,muboora-pumpkin leaves etc.All these are also dried for later use in the next season.