Today (Sunday, June 9th) we made our first attempt at cooking, the Tanzanian way. In our opinion, we were quite successful; whipping up both a delicious pilau (spiced, fried rice) and a tasty vegetable stir fry. We even had enough charcoal left at the end to boil some water for tea!
While cooking we decided to issue a challenge to all of you at home. If you’re up for the challenge of cooking like we have to, here’s how to do it!
- Buy your standards: garlic, onions and ginger.
- Purchase two types of vegetables, probably carrots and peppers, because that’s all that is available at the market.
- Cut everything using a large chef’s knife (there are no pairing knives here) in the palm of your hand (there are no cutting boards either). Even the garlic… No cheating!
- Using one burner, on medium-high heat ONLY, cook your rice, and all your stir-fry vegetables. Don’t forget to check your charcoal level halfway through to make sure you have enough!
- Add the minimal spices you can find, mainly salt and “Pilau Masala Seasoning”, which consists of cloves, black pepper, cumin, cinnamon and cardamom.
Enjoy your meal! It only took you 2 hours to make it.