Recipe: Mpunga with fish and curry

Let's make this delicious typical Swahili combo meal consisting of mpunga rice, mchuzi wa nazi and fried fish.

For the rice you will need:

4 cups water

3 cups Mpunga rice (kitumbo)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Salt to taste

Cook rice in a pot with all the above ingredients until well done it should be slightly sticky and not very fluffy.

For the fish you will need:

2 whole thafi fish (sky emperor fish)

2 to 3 tablespoon ginger/garlic paste

1 teaspoon curry powder masala

1/4 teaspoon red chili powder

Salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Lemon juice

Oil for frying

What to do:

Clean the fish and slice it lightly, giving the fish cuts not all the way through, This will help the fish obtain more flavour. Do it on both sides.

Next, mix all the other ingredients and marinate the fish, put the marinate in the cuts you made on the fish.

In a frying pan, add some oil and heat the oil.

When the oil is hot, add the fish and fry.

When one side is cooked, gently flip the fish to the other side and cook the other side as well. Make sure both sides are well cooked.

When both sides are cooked, remove form the heat and place the fish on a plate with a paper towel on top to soak any access oil

For the curry:

1/2 kg potatoes, cubed

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 onion, sliced

2 teaspoons garlic mince

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

3 tomatoes roughly cut

200ml coconut cream

200ml coconut milk

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt to taste

What to do:

In a pan or a wok, put the oil and fry the potatoes until crusted. Remove from the oil and set aside.

In the same wok saute the onions until soft then add the garlic mince and mix well. Go in with the spices continue to cook until fragrant. Now add the tomatoes, cover and let cook for five minutes until the tomatoes are soft.

Mix well then add the coconut cream and coconut milk. Bring to a simmer then go with the fried potatoes.

Add in the salt to taste and lemon juice and bring to a simmer. Cook until thick. Once ready serve.