UGALI NA MBOGA..... CORN MEAL MUSH AND GREENS
This is what I grew up eating anytime we were guests in African homes. I love this food. The side can also be chicken, beef, lamb, or fish, depending on your budget. It is not quite authentic unless you eat it with your fingers. What is really a supreme challenge is if the African wife cooks rice instead of the corn meal. It is still eaten with the fingers.
The greens are called "mboga," which is really any kind of greens. My favorite recipe is to boil spinach, and add peanut butter and some chili pepper. If you want Congo style, add sliced tomatoes as you cook it.
To make the corn meal mush digest better, soak the corn meal for about one hour before cooking. The object is to have a very thick result that can be handled by the fingers. If you want to experiment with rice, cook it so that it comes out a bit gummy, not fluffy, so you can try to eat it with your fingers.
When we White people ate rice with Africans, the chickens had a feast day. After the meal and everyone walked outside, the wife would let the chickens into the room to pick up any food that was dropped. We dropped plenty of rice on the floor.
