Zambian Food

Eating The Zambian Way(Nshima & Ndiwo)

Nshima and Ndiwo are two of the most important staple foods among Zambians in Southern Africa. Nshima is the fufu-like staple food eaten by not only Zambians but Malawians and many other African neighbours and it is known by other names in the various countries. Infact, a similar staple meal called fufu is eaten in West Africa and in countries like Ghana and Nigeria it is a very popular staple food among the Akans. Among the Akyems and Asantes, if one does not eat fufu in a day, they say you have not eaten. Literally translating “wo bua da” (you’re starved) But what exactly is this staple food eaten by perhaps an estimated 14-18 million people in southern Africa alone? What is Nshima and who eats it? It is a food cooked from plain maize or corn meal or maize flour known as mealie-meal among Zambians. Nshima has always been the basis of life in Zambia for as far back in history as people can remember. During the best times the Nshima meal is always eaten for lunch and dinner. This is the case during and after the harvest season in the villages in rural Zambia. Zambians like the Akans and fufu, are generally raised to believe that only Nshima constitutes a full and complete meal. Any other foods eaten in-between are regarded either as snacks or a temporary less filling or inadequate substitute or a mere appetizer. Lets say you meet a Zambian late in the afternoon and ask him if he has eaten. It is most likely, he will tell you that they haven’t eaten all day although they might have eaten a sandwich, peanuts, milk and a few other non -Nshima foods. Nshima is such a key factor loaded with such emotional investments in the diet that many rituals, expectations, expressions, customs, beliefs, and songs have developed in the culture around for cooking and eating Nshima. Nshima is also best eaten hot unlike fufu which is cold but eaten with hot soup. Nshima is eaten with a second dish known as NDIWO or relish. NDIWO, a relish is always a deliciously cooked vegetable, meat, fish, or poultry dish. By comparison to other cultures, Zambian recipes tend to be bland and hardly use any hot spices at all. However, they use other traditional ingredients and spices that give Zambian foods that distinctive unique taste and flavour. The meats used in this relish includes beef, goat, mutton, dear, buffalo, elephant, warthog, wild pig, mice, rabbits, or hare, antelope, turtle, alligator or crocodile or monkey and chicken eggs. They add various green vegetables.

Recipe

Nshima

4 cups water
2 cups of plain corn meal.

Method

Pour 4 cups of water into a medium sized cooking pot. Heat the water for 3-4mins or until luke warm-using one table spoon at a time, slowly sprinkle _ cup of the corn meal into the pot while stirring continuously with a cooking stick. Keep stirring slowly until the mixture begins to thicken and boil. Turn the heat to medium, cover the pot, and let simmer for 3-5mins. Cautiously remove the top. Slowly, a little at a time, pour into pot and a quarter cups of corn meal and briskly stir with the cooking stick until smooth and thick. Stir vigorously. Sprinkle a little more corn meal and stir if you desire the Nshima to be thicker or less if you want softer Nshima. Cover, turn the heat off and let Nshima sit on the store for another 2-3mins. Serves 4 people.

Ndiwo

Ingredients
2 bunches fresh collard greens (or spinach) washed and chopped
1 cup raw peanuts ground
Salt to taste
1 onion, sliced
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
Water

Preparation

In a medium sized saucepan, boil the onion and tomatoes with the ground peanuts, adding salt to taste and water as needed. After a few minutes, add the chopped greens. Stirring occasionally, continue cooking until the peanuts are soft and the mixture has become a fairly thick buttery sauce (15-20mins). You can add any fried meats of your choice to this sauce.Tip: I would add some hot spice to it as it might taste bland.

Cook’s Notes

Splendid GarlicThere are several ways to crush garlic. Some chef’s advice against a garlic press because the garlic can react with the metal and produce a sharp flavour. Instead peel, roughly chop, and sprinkle with a tinny bit of salt and crush with the point of a knife held flat. Alternatively, use a pestle and mortar to grind it. To add flavour to a recipe, it’s best to fry the garlic first. But don’t let it burn or even get brown as that makes it taste bitter.Garlic butter is easy to make- simply add crushed garlic to softened butter, then cover with cling film and keep in the fridge.If you have an old garlic clove it will probably have a green shoot sprouting from it which is better. The garlic can still be used, but cut the clove in half and remove the shoot first.