Irio is a staple in my motherland, and is more or less the same as mukimo, which I have shared here and here. Irio means food in my mother tongue, and is used to refer to the mashed mix of maize, beans, potatoes and fig gourd leaves, which we call ‘kahūrūra. This is not to be confused with pumpkin leaves, though they are very similar. However you can replace them with pumpkin leaves if you can’t get the fig gourd leaves and they will work just as well.

This is a nutritious and filling meal to make, and you can have it on its own, or with an accompaniment of your choice. I like traditional food because you get to taste the authentic flavour of the different ingredients and benefit from the nutrients and it tastes just as our forefathers or rather mothers made it.

For the stir fried vegetables, I first caramelized the onions low and slow till they released their sugars, then increased heat and added the veggies to just let them cook a bit, before adding a splash of balsamic vinegar, then garnished with sesame seeds. Yum!!!

This is such a great veggie full meal that’s also perfect for #meatlessmondays too don’t you think?