Maharagwe na mchele

How to make African beans and rice;

Step one:
Clean beans. Get out all the rocks, debris, bugs, etc. This is especially tricky, since it is hard to tell the difference between a bean and a rock.
Note: bugs can be kept or taken out, depending on desired protein level. If you want them out, you will have to look carefully at each bean, since they are often burrowed inside.

Step two:
Repeat step one with the rice.

Step three:
Double check that all rocks are removed from both the rice and the beans. A rock may result in a chipped tooth, and there are no doctors or medicine around to fix it.

Step four:
Soak beans in water for at least one day. The beans are extremely hard and will take hours to cook if this step is overlooked.

Step five:
Cook beans and rice (separately) in boiling water. Cook time may vary depending on how many times the electricity goes out. This is, of course, if you have a stove. However, if you are like most African women and do not, you will need to do this step over a fire.

Step six:
Clean a carrot, green pepper, onion, and tomato. This is done using bleach water. If you find this as disturbing as myself, you can substitute vinegar for bleach and take your chances. Washing the vegetables only with water will result in them being dirtier, not cleaner.

Step seven:
Cook onion in hot oil until golden brown. Add carrot, green pepper and tomato.

Step eight:
Add vegetables and some milk to the beans. If you cannot access anything close to milk, you can use Nido (this is a instant “milk” powder that tastes nothing like milk).

Step nine:
Continue to cook and stir until the beans have a sauciness to them from the milk.

Step ten:
Pile a large amount of rice and beans onto your plate, since this will likely be the only “meal” of your day (either because you can’t afford to eat more or because this process takes so long that you don’t have time to cook multiple meals in one day).

**Chew softly, there is a good chance you did not get out all the rocks.

**This recipe was shown to me by mama Biju, a lovely African women who doesn’t speak a word of English. Since all the instructions were given to me in Swahili, this recipe most likely is incorrect and lacking important steps.

ENJOY!