10 Dishes From Sub-Saharan Africa Everyone Needs to Try · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

We simply cannot let February, which is Food Month here at Global Voices Online, pass without sharing with you ten delicious dishes from Sub-Saharan Africa. Make sure to add them to your recipe collections!
1. Kamba wa nazi (Prawns in coconut sauce)
Kamba (Prawns/shrimp) is loved in the coastal region [East Africa]. Shrimps taste better if cooked for just a few minutes on high heat. In the past I preferred fried shrimp only, but shrimp cooked with coconut milk is something that I would advise everyone to try. Believe me; you may never want fried shrimp ever again if you try this recipe. This recipe is exotic.
Follow the instructions from the YouTube video below from Miriam Kinunda:
2. Efo riro (Nigerian vegetable soup)
Efo Riro is a Nigerian vegetable soup. Photo used with permission from Dobby Signature.
Efo riro” is a Yoruba word which simply means “Vegetable soup” and it’s enjoyed by many. This is because it’s really versatile and could be eaten with meals such as Rice, Yam and any type of Swallow. When I got to the market to buy the ingredients for cooking this meal, I actually got so confused when it came to choosing which Leaf to use for the soup.
3. Ceebu jenn (Senegalese rice and fish)
Senegalese national dish Ceebu jenn. Photo released in the public domain by Wikipedia user KVDP.
There are about as many variations for spelling ceebu jenn (thieboudienne, thiep bu dinenne, ceebujenn…) as there are to making it. This rice (ceeb) and fish (jenn) recipe is the national dish of Senegal and can also be made with beef (ceebu yapp). If the dish looks familiar, it’s because it’s a descendent of paella.
4. Seswaa (Botswana's slow-cooked shredded beef)
Watch the video below to learn from Freedes Em how to make this scrumptious recipe from Botswana:
5. Matapa
Matapa is a typical Mozambican dish prepared with young cassava leaves piled with garlic and flour extracted from the tubers, cooked with crab or shrimp. Many Matapa dishes add cashew nuts and can be eaten with bread, rice or alone.
Cook Guru Mozambique Cuisine has simple instructions for you to make your own Matapa:
Are you ready to eat Matapa? Photo by Brandi Phiri. Used with permission.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg of shrimps
– 750 gr of peanuts
– 1 kg of cabbage leaf or cassava leaf
– 1 coconut
– 2 L of water
– salt to taste
6. Ghana's Benne (sesame) soup with guineafowl (or Cornish game hens)
Below are the ingredients needed:
1. Fowl (I'm using 2 Cornish game hens, around 4 lbs, total)
2. 1.5 teaspoons salt, or to taste
3. 1 cup of tahini (or less if you prefer)
4. 3 – 4 cloves of garlic
5. About 2-inch chunk of fresh peeled ginger
6. 1 onion (about 1 cup, red, if available)
7. About 4 habanero, or other milder chile peppers, seeded and membranes removed, if desired. (When ground they should make about 1 Tablespoon of pepper paste). Americans use milder chile peppers, remove seeds, etc.)
8. 6 small-to-medium tomatoes (or about half a large 28 oz can of tomatoes; I imagine this might also be a small can, but I never have them in the house): enough to get 1 1/2- 2 cups when blended.
Read the full cooking instructions from Betumi here.
7. Doro wet (Ethiopian/Eritrean stew made from chicken and hard-boiled eggs)
Watch the YouTube video below made by Makonnen Wolde to learn how to make Doro wet:
8. Injera
Doro wet (above) is traditionally eaten with injera, a spongy flat bread made from the millet-like grain known as teff:
Ingredients
5 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon yeast
enough warm water to make a thin batter
Begin by combining the flour, baking powder and yeast in a large bowl. Add enough water to make a batter the consistency of thin pancake batter. Cover the bowl and set it aside.
Full cooking instructions are here.
Ethiopian/Eritrean injera (flat bread), which can be eaten with dishes such as Doro wet. Photo released under Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0 FR) by Wikipedia user Rama.
9. Chapati (flat bread)
Chapati or “chapo” as we fondly refer to them in Kenya, is a very popular flat bread that is a staple in many homes in East Africa. The dish has it's origins in India as do many of our foods in Kenya. This owing to the large Indian population that has lived in Kenya since the 19th century, and whom we consider as our fellow Kenyans. Though this flat bread shares the same name with another flat bread in India, the preparation of the dough and the type of flour used make them different. The Indian chapati is made of a combination of whole wheat flour (atta) and all-purpose flour whereas the East African version of the chapati uses only all-purpose flour. When making the East African chapati, oil is used whereas no oil is used in kneading the dough for the Indian chapati. In that regard, the East African chapati is more similar to the Indian flat bread called “Paratha”. But what's in a name? A chapati by any other name would still be delish :)
Chapati and chapati roll. Photo released under Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Flickr user Kalyan.
Learn chapati cooking instructions here.
10. Ndole (spinach/bitter leaves and peanut soup):
Writing about Cameroonian dish Ndole on her blog, food blogger Immaculate writes:
At the top of my favorite Cameroonian food is Ndole, which is always present at parties ,and when cooked properly flies off the table. It is an absolutely irresistible combination of peanuts, bitter leaves (substitute spinach), meat (stock fish, shrimp,) crayfish (dried shrimps) and oil. If I could eat this every day I would, It is rich, high in calories and loved by many. It tastes like a stew spinach dip with all the spices and meat.
Follow Immaculate's instructions here to make your own Ndole.
Sub-Saharan Africa has many more yummy dishes to offer the world than those listed above. Make sure that you explore the blogs linked in this post for more!