One of the strange things about living outside of your own country is how you find ways to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. In my many years overseas I have managed to celebrate each Thanksgiving despite the lack of festivities going on at the current residency. Today being no exception. The kids had school, Stefan had a meeting and it was about 90 degrees which is very unlike Wisconsin this time of year. There were no turkeys to be found that I could see, that is live or frozen and for that matter pumpkins are not in season. Good thing I bought an imported one ( for about $25) right around Halloween and froze some to save for Thanksgiving pumpkin pie ! Tomorrow afternoon while many Americans are out fighting the shopping crowds we will pick up the kids from school and then have a small celebration with two other families eating roast chicken and all the yummy Thanksgiving sides ! I am looking forward to it.
Meanwhile, I thought ,while everyone is getting into the season of some serious down home cooking, ( or opening of cans and pre-made crusts !! SORRY - had to throw that jab in ) that I would share the process of making a traditional Malawian meal - something that they actually eat EVERYDAY - 3 times a day but prepared in my favorite way. It's called:
Nkhwani Wotendere
(Pumpkin leaves prepared with ground nut flour) and served with Nsima (traditional maize paste eaten every day)
In the photo below you see some of the colorful ingredients. Pumpkin leaves chopped with the maizeflour in the bags and one onion and two tomoatoes are needed as well.
You BEGIN by de-stringing ? the pumpkin leaves and then chopping them ! I know we don't eat the leaves in the USA, by tradition, buy you ought to try them one day. Delicious and healthy !
Next I prepared my "stew" which is not always added into the daily meal, in fact, RARE for Malawians as meat is very expensive but we prepared a beef stew with tomatoes and onion/garlic to go alongside our meal.
Next comes my MOST FAVORITE photo - the steaming of the Nkhwani! A tiny bit of water goes into a pot to simmer - then you carefully place the pumpkin leaves into the pot with the tomatoes on top and then the ground peanuts over that. Put the lid on and then let it all steam.....(the aroma at this point is LOVELY)
While that's simmering it's time to begin preparing the NSIMA. This is the maize flour paste which is eaten EVERY DAY by malawians. I eat it about 3 to 5 times a year TOPS. This food fills their tummies and makes them happy ! The side dishes vary for dipping the maize paste into but usually some green leaf veggie stir fried with onions and tomatoes. ( that's where the nutrition comes in....)
To prepare NSIMA properly is a work of art that I have yet to figure out - it takes strong arm muscles for all that stirring to avoid getting it lumpy ! Our good friend Mirriam took much patience to walk me through the process. Apparently you are supposed to test the water temperature on your BARE hand. So while you can't see it in the photo.....I did it too.
After adding the right amount of maizeflour ( they just eyeball it ) you give it a stir and put on the lid until you see it making these little blubbing bubbles as seen in the photo above. NOW ITS TIME FOR THE ARM WORK !!
You STIR and PULL and STIR and PULL UP ( but don't let it fall over the sides) until it reaches the perfect thickness without any lumps ( maybe kinda like oatmeal but for some reason much more difficult for me)
THEN you form it into these perfect "loaf" portions - another artwork using a handmade wooden spoon.
The end result looks like this: A 3 loaf portion ( Stefan sized portion) with a side of stew and a side of "nkhwani wotendere" ( the pumpkin leaf with ground nut flour). The sides are referred to as " Ndiwo" in their chichewa language. TIME TO EAT......without silverware !
Here you can see one of our resident experts.....taking a portion of nsima with your fingers - rolling it around and dipping it into the ndiwo and then eating it ! It's actually VERY YUMMY ! Ben loves it !! He's a 2 loaf kinda boy.
To wash your hands before and after the meal a large pitcher is taken around to each person ( traditionally men first) and water poured over your hands to clean them. ( with a bowl catching the water underneath).
Anyone coming to visit us is certain to be served this dish - so come and visit the Warm Heart of Africa and we'll treat you to "Nkhwani Wotendere"
HAPPY THANKSGIVING ! .....as everyone sits down to their feasts I'm off to bed .....goodnite ! I'll be dreaming of my from-scratch imported pumpkin pie made in a springform pan ( couldn't find ANY pie plate type dish anywhere - springform worked great tho') :)
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Location:Blantyre, Malawi
