Ugali and Chapati: A deep dive into two of the most famous breakfast meals from East Africa.
Food they say, is a way to a man’s heart, and you’ll never see a man angry while eating Jollof rice, coincidence? I think not. But today we are not here to talk about ways to a man’s heart or angry men eating jollof rice, instead we’ll be talking about the most important meal of the day, breakfast!
Breakfast, as we know, is the most important meal of the day, the meal that gets you on your stride and ready to conquer the challenges of the day. It could be either light, medium or, if you’re like me, a heavy breakfast.
People who are trying to lose weight choose light breakfasts, and people who want to gain weight choose heavy breakfasts (usually comprising cereal with milk). Medium-sized breakfasts are somewhere in between these two extremes—not too big nor too small—and typically contain eggs and toast.
Kenya is mainly known for its aesthetics, athletes and tourism, but never for its food, which by the way they have lots of amazing dishes you should try to they are also easy to make. But this post is only going to cover the two most popular Kenyan breakfasts and not just any kind of breakfast, we’re talking about two most famous, mouth-watering, finger-licking and truly satisfying breakfast from Kenya: Ugali and Chapati.
Ugali
Ugali also knows as Corn Fufu is a staple food in Kenya and other parts of East Africa, where it is made from maize flour (cornmeal). It’s a simple dish that can be eaten with many stews or soups. You may have had ugali before in your own country—it’s like soft version of fufu! Fun fact about Ugali is In 2017, the dish was added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. One of the few meals present on the list.
(source: immaculate bites)
Ugali is often eaten for breakfast, but it’s also served as a side dish at dinner or lunchtime. It is soft, so if you don’t like soft foods, you may not enjoy eating this porridge-like dish. Because it’s so bland on its own, ugali goes well with spicy foods like pepper soup or beef stew. Eating the two together gives them both more flavor!
How to prepare: Making Ugali isn’t difficult, you just boil water and then add in some maize flour until the mixture thickens up enough to hold its shape when dropped back into the pot (you’ll know when that happens because it will look like polenta).
Ingredients: spices like salt/pepper/curry powder/onion powder, etcetera—and voila! You’ve got yourself an authentic Kenyan experience without even leaving the comfort of your home.
Nutrition value of Ugali (Corn Fufu)
Amount Per Serving (250 g)
Calories 429Calories from Fat 41
% Daily Value*
Fat 4.5g7%
Cholesterol 6mg2%
Sodium 274mg12%
Carbohydrates 92g31%
Fiber 5g21%
Protein 4g8%
Calcium 11mg1%
Iron 1.8mg10%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Chapati
Chapati is a flatbread made from wheat flour, and it’s usually eaten with curry or other stews. It’s the national staple food of India, where chapati-making is considered an art form: there are many regional variations on how to make this type of bread.
(source: cheflolaskitchen)
Chapatis are also popular in East Africa, especially in Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique, where they’re often eaten with stewed meat dishes like nyama choma (grilled beef) or sukuma wiki (stewed greens). Chapati is such a dynamic food they also eat it with curries, beans, sauces, or used as wraps for meals like Scrambled Eggs, Chicken, potatoes, meat, vegetables, and so much more.
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour plus a little more flour for kneading
1 Teaspoon Salt
3 Tablespoons oil
1¼ Cups Water
How to prepare:
Mix the flour, salt, and oil in a large bowl and stir thoroughly. Add little drops of water from time to time to form a soft and sticky dough.
Place on a floured surface and massage for about 10 to 15 minutes until it becomes smooth and stretchy. Put in a bowl and cover it, let it get warm for about 20 to 30 minutes.
Place on a lightly floured surface; divide the dough into 8 equal parts and roll each piece into a circle. You can roll out the dough into a circle and cook the Chapati at this point.
Add little drops of oil to the chapati and roll it as you would roll up a mat. At this point, it should give a rope-like figure.
Pull the tip of the rope-like figure towards the center of the coil and tuck in using your index finger, then cover it up with a damp towel and leave it for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Flour your work surface again and start rolling out each of the coiled dough to about 1/8th thickness
Preheat a non-stick pan or a heavy bottom frying pan. Put the chapati inside the pan and leave it to cook for a few seconds.
Add little drops of oil to the surface of the chapati. Once you see bubbles rise on top of the chapati, flip it over and repeat the process on the other side.
Continue to flip and fry until you achieve your desired brownness and serve warm. Recipe..
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