Note: My last post stated it was the third African dish in a row; this would have been the second one if I had posted them in the correct order!
I have found that a large number of African countries have a version of braised greens, just under different names. I've made several already, but I'm not complaining. I love dishes that are vegetable-based that are easy to keep vegetarian.
Kenya's version of this dish is called sukuma wiki. Usually for dishes like this, I have to approximate what kind of green to use, as many use plants that are hard to come by in the US. However, this dish uses collard greens, which I'm very familiar with. I made this dish on June 1st to align with Madaraka Day, celebrating the end of British colonial rule.
To add a punch of flavor to the greens, spices like chili powder, turmeric, and paprika are added.
The basic recipe for sukuma wiki does not include meat, but it wouldn't be super filling on its own without some kind of protein. The recipe I used called for beef or chicken, so I used some seitan.
The first stop is sauteeing onions with the spices and some tomato paste until soft.
The smell of spices cooked on the stove is honestly the best.
The collard greens are cut into strips. Collard greens are much tougher than other greens like spinach or even kale, so the larger the pieces, the longer you have to cook them. I love collard greens because they have such a great texture after cooking.
After sauteeing the greens with the onions, I added the seitan. I try not to add seitan to things too early as the longer it cooks, the tougher it gets.
Sukuma wiki is often served with ugali, made with corn flour. I used yellow cornmeal to make a version of it, since that's just what I had. I've made versions of this before; it's also known as fufu or pap. It's essentially cornmeal cooked in water until stiff.
The cornmeal is definitely coarser than what would normally be used, so it's probably more similar to polenta than the ugali you would find in Kenya, but it hits the spot and is a great accompaniment to vegetables. I added some red pepper flakes to the sukuma wiki for some extra flavor and color; chopped tomatoes are also commonly sprinkled on top.
Recipes Used: Sukuma Wiki
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