Ugali Mayai is an elite meal that reminds one of hostel life, a simple and inexpensive way to have your nutrients on the go. It is so easy to make, delicious, healthy and colourful. It is a great quick dinner recipe that will use your pantry staples on those evenings you do not want to spend a lot of time cooking.
Eggs are called “mayai” in Swahili and ugali, which I have explained in a previous post here, is one of my favorite meals, in spite of the fact that I am such a lousy cook when it comes to it. LOL.
Let’s get started.
Our ingredients are eggs, green pepper, chopped onion, minced garlic, chopped tomato, paprika and salt and pepper to taste. I also used black salt in this recipe. It takes some getting used to but is great for roasted vegetables, and egg dishes such as this. The strong smell doesn’t linger and it does deepen the flavour of the dish.
Note: It is not a bad idea to have black salt in your pantry. It reduces bloating and heartburn, is rich in antioxidants, but since its not iodised and has fluoride, it should be used sparingly, and just to enhance flavour, not to replace regular salt.
Heat up your pan, and add some oil, followed by the onions and capsicum. Mix well. Once onions are soft and translucent, add the paprika, tomatoes and minced garlic, as well as salt and pepper. Let the tomatoes cook down. Meanwhile beat the eggs in bowl. Move the veggies to one side of the pan and add your eggs. As the eggs cook, mix them up with the veggies, into a scramble. The eggs are perfect with Ugali and green vegetables; kale,spinach, Swiss chard or collard greens go well with this too.Colourful, easy to make and tasty too. Serve hot and eat with your hands!
Auto correct kept changing ‘ugali’ to ‘ugly’. WTH?
Ugali is one of the region’s staple meals. It is easy to cook, uses only two ingredients (maize flour and water) and goes with just about anything. Ugali is more commonly known as posho here in Uganda. It is a hearty meal that can be made by just about anyone. Well, almost everyone.
I have a love hate relationship with ugali to be honest. I love eating it, cooking it, not so much. If I had to compete in ugali making I would fail miserably in the first round. I’d be like those guys whose ridiculous audition clips provide much needed humour in the final rounds of a competition.
Nevertheless, I make ugali at least once a week. If I had my way, we would have it more often but oh well. Let’s not push it. So Ugali, boil your water, add the flour bit by bit until it’s a stiff mash and mix well with a wooden spoon till it stiffens and ‘smells’ cooked, takes about 15 minutes, right? I am open to suggestions of how long ugali should be cooked btw *insert shrug*
I usually cover it and let it steam in between turning it well. How to tell its ready though? I do a taste test. Some people recommend taking a small piece and fling it to the wall to test for readiness. Like the old spaghetti test. I do not know if it works though. LOL.
The most common way to serve ugali is with greens (spinach, kale, traditional greens) and a nice protein option; beef, fish, chicken, eggs, goat meat etc.
See this? I can’t even get my ugali to have a nice smooth top and rounded well. SMH
This is still a work in progress for me. But I don’t let it stop me from enjoying eating it!
At least I can make nice yummy greens to cover up my weakness 🙂And a nice salad on the side to cover up for my ugali transgressions comes in handy.Add in some spicy bacon to the cabbage, some chunky guac, and everyone will forget how bad my ugali looks.
What are your tips for making your ugali stand out?
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