Bean and kale ragu

In Kenya, many people believe that the English translation for sukuma wiki is kale. This is not true. Kale or leaf cabbage has green or purple leaves, in which the central leaves do not form a head (as opposed to headed cabbages). What we call sukuma wiki is actually called collard greens in the US and some other parts of the world.

However, for this recipe, you can substitute kale with sukuma wiki. When I first made it, I followed a friend’s recipe to the tee. In my next attempt (which I follow to date), I substituted the water with chicken broth, added a bit of wine and used regular diced tomato. The outcome was amazing making this a regular recipe on my dinner table.

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 30/40 minutes

Ready In: 35/45 minutes

Ingredients:

2 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 onion, chopped 2 bunches sukuma wiki 1 can diced tomatoes/4 tomatoes 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 ½ cups water Green chillies (optional) 2 bay leaves ¼ teaspoon (tsp) ground cumin 1 tsp onion powder ¼ kg pre boiled beans 1 tsp fresh oregano chopped 1 tsp fresh basil, chopped Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large deep frying pan over high heat. Add the onions and sukuma wiki and stir until the onions become transparent and the sukuma reduces in volume.

Reduce the heat to medium, stir in the tomatoes and green chillies, garlic, water (or chicken broth), bay leaves, cumin and onion powder into the mixture.

Simmer until the sukuma is very soft, then stir in the beans, continue to simmer until the beans are heated through. This should take about 10-15 minutes. Finally stir in the oregano, basil, salt and pepper and allow to cook for one to two minutes.

Serve with ugali or baguette bread