Recipes for Change: Nsima with chicken casserole and khobwe balls

In recent years, Malawi has been hit hard by natural disasters such as droughts and floods, with severe impacts on food security. Supported by IFAD, the Transforming Agriculture through Diversification and Entrepreneurship (TRADE) Programme is building resilience to these shocks by promoting climate-smart agriculture.

A key part of this is diversifying crop production and reintroducing native species, many of which can be grown sustainably in kitchen gardens – and adapt more easily to the changing climate. Cowpeas, for example, require little water and can thrive in high temperatures, in addition to their high nutritional value.

With the recipes collected from rural communities by Recipes for Change chef Sophie Grigson, you can learn how to make a sustainable Malawian meal yourself.

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Khobwe balls

Ingredients (for 6 servings)

• • 250 g khobwe (purple cowpeas) or soy beans
  • 235 g cooking oil
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 eggs (optional)
  • Curry powder to taste (optional)

Preparation time: 1 hour

1. Boil the beans for 15 minutes in salted water before draining and rinsing under cold water.
2. Allow the beans to cool before removing the outer skin.
3. Once the skin is removed, mash the beans into a paste and add the onion.
4. Whisk the eggs and pour into the mixture. Mash together.
5. Divide the mixture equally, moulding it into balls of the same size.
6. Heat the cooking oil in a pan. When hot, add the balls and fry until golden.

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Nsima with local greens and chicken casserole 

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

Chicken casserole

• • 1.4 kg whole chicken
  • 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • Curry powder to taste
  • Water
  • Salt to taste

Local greens

• • 720 g nkhwani (pumpkin leaves)
  • 500 g bonongwe otendera (amaranth) or spinach
  • 250 ml water
  • Salt to taste
  • 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
  • 250 g peanut flour or ground peanuts

Nsima (maize porridge)

• • 1 kg maize flour
  • 1.5 litre water

Preparation time: 1 hour and 35 minutes

Chicken casserole

1. Cut the chicken into pieces and boil it in salted water until cooked (approximately 20 minutes). Keep the water for sauce.
2. Fry the chicken with the onion until it is golden brown.
3. Add the curry powder and tomatoes and fry until soft. Add a ladleful of the water and simmer until a sauce forms. Set it aside until ready to serve.

Local greens

4. While the chicken is boiling, rinse the nkhwani and bonongwe. Remove the outer skin from the nkhwani leaves. Roughly chop all the leaves together.
5. Heat the water in a pot and add salt. Once the water is boiling, add the leaves and allow them to boil for 2 minutes.
6. Stir the leaves before adding the chopped tomatoes and peanut flour.
7. Cover the pot and allow it to boil for 5 minutes, then stir and allow it to boil for a further 3 minutes.
8. Set it aside until ready to serve.

Nsima

9. In another pot, heat the water for the nsima until lukewarm. Do not let it boil.
10. Add most of the maize flour and stir until the mixture has a porridge-like consistency.
11. Cover the pot and let it boil for 5 minutes.
12. Add the remaining flour slowly and stir continuously until a thick, dough-like consistency is reached. Cover the pot for another 2 minutes.
13. Serve on a plate alongside the chicken casserole and local greens.
14. Enjoy it the Malawian way – with your hands. Roll some nsima into a small ball and use it to scoop up the greens and the chicken, as you might a piece of bread.

Publication date: 13 February 2024