A Taste of Africa: Matoke - Plantain Stew
Getting to know Africa includes experiencing the vastly different - and yummy - expressions of each culture through food.
While this recipe is often quoted as originating in Uganda, we've encountered all sorts of variations, all over the place! No matter where it comes from, it is a simple, delicious and very appetite-satisfying dish. Matoke is a reference to plantain (sometimes known as plantain bananas). This dish can be prepared with or without the meat and beef broth. It's equally tasty as a vegetarian dish.Source: Creative Commons, Labeled for Reuse
As with all our recipes, we often vary this dish. We've added carrots or sweet potatoes or yams, different types of peppers. Used vegetable broth instead of beef broth. Sometimes putting together a stew at our house involves tidying up the fridge. You know - "let's use this up" or "a bit of this and a bit of that". Experimentation with recipes is fun, in our opinion, and often creates a tasty result!Source: Creative Commons, Labeled for Reuse
When we think about it, the reason why this dish crops up all over Africa is likely because plantains are a staple crop in a large part of the continent. We love sharing our family recipes with you but please remember you can search online and find lots of variations on this dish and other terrific African recipes. An online recipe site we use over and over again is The Congo Cookbook. My East Africa Journal is also a great source for recipes. afrolems.com - A food blog for Nigerian, African and Interational recipes is a great source. Visit them - they have a really nice selection of recipes and the instructions are laid out in a really easy to understand manner. AllRecipes and Food.com are also good resources. Just a simple web search will turn up a wide variety of recipes for you to try. INGREDIENTS- 10 to 12 plantains (the amount will vary according to the size of the plantain)
- Salt (to taste)
- 1 large sweet onion, rough chopped
- Coriander (we just use a touch - about a quarter teaspoon - if you really like coriander you can add more)
- A pinch of dried red pepper flakes
- 1 hot pepper, chopped (any kind or heat quotient you like!)
- the juice of one lemon
- Some canola oil (we use a canola/olive oil blend)
- tomatoes (you can use canned plum tomatoes (roughly break them up with your fingers) or 4 or 5 fresh tomatoes - chopped)
- 2 bell peppers - chopped (use any variety of bell pepper you like - we often use orange or yellow just because the colours are appetizing)
- 4 garlic cloves (mash the garlic)
- 1 pound of lean ground beef OR 1 pound of stewing beef (if you use stewing beef cut it up into manageable bite-size pieces)
- 1.5 cups of beef or vegetable broth
- Peel the plantains and then cut them up into fairly large cubes. Sprinkle some lemon juice on them and put them to the side for now.
- In a large frying pan heat up about 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil and then fry the pepper, the onions, the hot pepper and the garlic. Just saute them until they are tender but not soft and mushy. You want them to have some substance. The onions should be translucent but not caramelized.
- Then add the meat (if you are using it). If using ground beef, chop it up in the pan with your spatula as you saute it. Keep sauteing and stirring the meat (ground or stewing beef) until it is done. When the meat is no longer pink, add the broth.
- Bring the stew to a boil and then reduce the heat to a slow simmer.
- Add the plantains and then cover your pot.
- Continue to simmer over low heat until the plantains are tender and the meat is thoroughly cooked. Stir often to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom!