Aggies Makande recipe

AGGIES RECIPE for
Makande (Maize and bean stew) for four people




INGREDIENTS

6 cloves garlic
1/4 kilo dry cracked maize
1/8 kilo soya beans
2 tbsp oil
1 fresh coconut (See coconut cream recipe below) or 1/2 cup coconut cream
3 small red onions
2 carrots
2 litres water
1tsp salt, or use to taste
METHOD
Soak maize and beans overnight, drain and then add the two litres of water and cook on stove until soft. Take off the stove and set aside but do not drain.

Chop onions, grate carrot.

Fry onions in oil and add crushed garlic, frying until onions are golden brown. Add carrot. Cook a few minutes til tender. Add maize, beans and liquid, let it boil for five minutes.

Add coconut cream and salt to taste.

Serve hot, with chilli if you like it. Try not to eat the whole lot yourself in one sitting!

To make coconut cream:

Cut open one fresh coconut and grate the flesh into a bowl.
(In this photo Aggie is using an mbuzi to grate the coconut )

Pour about one cup of hot water over the grated coconut and start squeezing it in your hands, then put it back in the bowl, take another handful, squeeze it, etc. This mixes the hot water through the flesh so that the cream can be extracted.

Now put a sieve over another bowl and dump the coconut mix into it.Squeeze it in your hands as before setting aside dry pulp in the first bowl. The liquid that you have now is coconut cream.

You can try the process again, and if the resulting liquid is creamy and thick it can be used as coconut cream, if it is thinner but still a milky white use as coconut milk.