Githeri Recipe: Kenyan Style

Hello my people!Is is Tuesday already??
You know, last night I was so tired, I did not even realize how I crawled into my bed. Problem was that I had a late meeting and so I got home quite late. Thank God for a sister who had already cooked dinner!Gracias darling!!
Anyways, I am now awake and taking the day, a step at a time!Hope I'll make it to the end alive!

One thing you should know by now is that I love food and moreover, I love cooking.
My mum knows this and since she has a small farm upcountry, she sends me some of her produce so I can experiment here in town. Right now, it is maize and beans harvest time in Kenya meaning that Githeri is a common meal in most homes.
For my readers who might not understand what Githeri is, I will be so kind as to explain as I give you the Githeri recipe.

Githeri is one of the most popular traditional foods of Kenya. This is especially so among the Kikuyu people, a tribe from the Central part of Kenya, which am proudly part of. When discussing foods from Kenya and foods from Africa, corn or maize as we call it here, cannot be ignored.We cook it in every form. From the sweet, young grains which are easy to chew, to the hardened, dry form which is more difficult to cook and chew. We also use corn/maize flour as part of our staple food, for ugali (i will tell you all about it later) and porridge. In fact, food shortages in Kenya are commonly measured by the availability of maize at cheap prices in the market.

Githeri is basically a mixture of beans and maize/corn-boiled and later fried according to personal taste.So, for those of you looking for recipes for beans, this is a fun one you could try.

Fried Githeri

-Serves 5

Ingredients:
-3 cups Maize (removed from the cobs) -I prefer fresh maize from the garden
-2 cups Beans
-7 cups water

To Fry:
-2 onions
-3 tomatoes
-6 potatoes
-1 cucumber
-1/4 kg meat (optional)

Spices
-Royco
-Curry Powder
-Salt to taste

Method:
-Mix the maize and beans together. Wash and cover in water. Boil for 2-3 hours or until soft. In case, the maize or beans is very dry, you can soak the mixture before boiling. Soaking overnight, reduces the boiling time by half.
-After the Githeri is ready, drain the remaining water.
-Cut the onions, tomatoes, and cucumber.
-Saute the onions with oil, in a sufuria until golden brown.
-Add the chopped meat and brown for 5 minutes.
-Add the tomatoes and cucumber.
-In the mean time, peel the potatoes and slice them into cubes.
-Add them to the sufuria and keep stirring.
-Add salt and the spices. If it burns or gets too hot, add a little water.
-Add the boiled Githeri and stir, mixing in all the ingredients.
-Add boiling water to cover the mixture. Don't add too much as it may become too soggy.
-Let it simmer under low heat for about 10-15 minutes. Keep checking on the potatoes to make sure they don't overcook.
-When ready, let the Githeri sit for five minutes, then serve with steamed cabbages or other vegetables.

I have cooked Githeri several times in the last two weeks and am loving it. It is always helpful to take advantage of the ingredients that are in season when cooking as they are cheaper and very convenient. (More so, when your mum sends you stuff from up country) Thank you mama!
Hope you like this recipe!If you decide to try it, tell me all about it!!

                                                       Images: 1/2/3
To Learn more about Githeri, check out Ultimate Githeri Recipes