More Food Photos

I think it's been a while since I've shared some food photos.  So here are several that have gradually accumulated over the last couple of months, but didn't fit neatly into another post.

Fresh Beans
Fresh beans may be purchased from the outdoor produce market in town.  They cost around 2,000-3,000 shillings per kg (about $1-$1.50), depending on whether you are getting the local price or the mzungu price. They look so pretty when you buy them, but once they are cooked, they all turn to the same light brown color. Typically, I alternate between beans, green grams (a type of lentil) and cowpeas (or peas) as the main ingredient in my lunches and dinners.

Fresh beans from the Soroti market 

Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are really common here. They are typically sold in heaps, as shown below, or in massive basins. The are a very pale yellow color inside, like sweet potatoes in America (commonly confused with yams, which are bright orange in color). Typically, sweet potatoes are boiled here since most people (myself included) don't have ovens.  See the fish stew photo further below for a cooked sweet potato. 

Sweet potatoes sold in heaps at a Ugandan market 

G-Nuts

G-Nuts is short for groundnuts, or as we would call them, peanuts. They are ubiquitous in Uganda and a staple in the local diet.  They can be roasted, as shown here, or eaten fresh. They are also commonly ground into a paste which is used to create pasted foods (described further below). My coworkers roasted these g-nuts in the office one day and we had them as an afternoon snack.

Fresh roasted g-nuts

Dodo
Dodo is another type of local green. In the past I have mostly shown photos of sukuma wiki (aka kale), which I eat more often. Dodo is a different type of leafy green vegetable, which I really like.  It has a softer texture than kale and a smoother flavor.  The preparation is similar in that you typically cook onions and tomatoes in oil and then add the greens and seasoning (usually Royco). And how can you not like a food with such a fun name?!  :)

Dodo made for lunch at the office

Posho
Now you may be thinking, I've seen this one before.... And yes, you have.  Posho, or as it is called in Kenya, Ugali, is made from maize flour and water.  In Uganda, they say that the flour is slightly different than the flour in Kenya; I believe it's finer.  So they say it is different, or that it tastes different, but it all tastes the same to me.  Except when I tried to make it when I was in the states over the holidays. The corn flour was a lot different and it turned out bright yellow, but it was still ok, I think.  Usually you pour a saucy food over the posho, and it serves as the starch in the dish, like rice or potatoes.  

Ugandan posho made by my coworker

Fish Stew
This was made for lunch by one of my coworkers last week.  A fried whole tilapia was broken into small pieces and cooked with tomatoes and eggplant.  On the side it was served with a boiled sweet potato.

Fish stew with boiled sweet potato

Pasted Fish
Pasted food is one of my favorite things here in Uganda, and one that I have definitely not gotten enough of since I've been here.  As mentioned above in the g-nuts section, pasted foods are made from ground peanuts, or g-nuts, which are made into a sauce that meat or vegetables are cooked in.  Here is tilapia again (which is very common here) that was cooked in g-nut sauce.  It's served over rice with cooked cabbage on the side. 

Pasted smoked fish with rice and cabbage

Matooke
Matooke, similar to plantains, are another common staple food in Uganda. They look like large bananas but the skins are always green and do not turn yellow. 

Matooke sold on stalks in a Ugandan market

I have showed matooke prepared in previous photos where it was boiled and mashed and has no other seasoning.  When served that way, it is yellow in color and tastes pretty bland.   Shown below is a different style of preparation, which I actually like a lot better. Here it has been stewed in tomatoes and carrots and other seasonings which give it a more robust flavor. 

Stewed matooke

It's definitely fun getting to try all of the different foods here and to learn how they're made.