Uganda

Ugandan cuisine is inspired with flavours and techniques from the Arabian peninsula to the Indian Ocean.   Starch and meats are the common fair with each individual region having its own unique and different method of preparing a dish.  Once again groundnut (aka peanut) plays a predominant part of the local diet.

Matooke with Rice


Matooke is considered somewhat of the national dish.  However there are so many versions of this simple curry or more commonly known as stew in Uganda.   Plantains, onions, tomatoes, peppers and ground beef are mixed with an East African spice blend.    This dish reminds me of an Indian recipe that is similar that uses ground beef and potatoes,  Aloo Keema.  However there is a very distinct flavour difference with the Plantains.  

There seems to be a culinary jigsaw puzzle starting to form.  Ingredients being substituted and spices being blended more to suit what is locally available.   Dish dish for example had plantains vrs potatoes,  but more tumeric then what would have been used in India.   Dishes, spices, ingredients that start to transform as they get farther away from their origins.   I noticed this in a particular sausage a little while ago too.  The sausage started to transform in spices, meats as it got farther away from its town of origin.