Pilau Mwakenya

Jambo!!!

Tomorrow is a Sunday and family comes together for a lunch or dinner. In my mother’s home whenever we all came together she made her best pilau and no matter how hard I try, I still can not make it as good as she used to.
So if you are a kitchen rookie like I am, here is a simple recipe we can share and try out. This is the Pilau made the Kenyan way and I hope that it turns out to the best so that my Kenyan friends can eat away and say Thankyou mama, you cooked a very nice meal  and in my not so polished Kiswahili I translate it to"Asante sana Mama, we na piga chakula muzuri" .

This will serve 6

So what do we need?

• 1 kg goat, mutton or beef cute into medium sizes
• 4 garlic cloves pounded
• Salt to taste
• 9 cardamom pods
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil or just about enough
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cups rice (basmati rice makes the best pilau)
  
• 10 whole black peppercorns
• 8 whole cloves
• 8 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ¼ cup cumin seed powder
• 4 small tomatoes
• 6 cups water

 My step by step simple procedure:

• Boil the meat in salted water until tender.
• Crush the garlic and cardamom together with 2tbsp water using a mortar and pestle.
• Sautee the onion until it is golden brown.
• Add the rice, meat, garlic and cardamom mixture, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, ginger and cumin seed powder.
• Cook covered over medium heat until all are nicely brown, about 10 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes.
• Cook and stir until the tomatoes are thoroughly cooked down to the consistency of a sauce.
• Add the 6 cups water to the rice mixture, bring to a boil and then cook over very low heat, (while covered) for another 15-20 minutes, until all water is absorbed and the rice is cooked through.

Make sure when you go on a safari to Kenya, do order a plate of Pilau served with a salad or Kachumbari (Want to know all about Kachumbari?, well, check in with us soon)

Karibu!!!