Swahili Cooking Class

Today, it was us that took a turn being the students as we participated in a traditional Swahili cooking class provided by Sarah and Barbara, two members of the local community.

Volunteers Mary and Leigh working hard making samosas.

It was quite an endeavour, taking over 3 hours to make all the goodies, but the end result was a delicious pile of food and everyone with very satisfied stomachs. Sarah and Barbara taught us how to make four traditional dishes: pilau, viazi, samosas, and bagias. We also made fresh mango and passion/carrot fruit juices to follow the fried goodness.

Volunteer Sam taking on the difficult art of rolling samosa pastry.

Sarah and Barbara keeping their students in check!!

The viazies (fried potatoes) were a huge hit, being that they are a common street food here in Mombasa which most of us treat ourselves to daily! The bagias (fried green leaves in batter) and samosas (fried dumplings with a bean filling) were devoured in a matter of minutes!

Volunteer Rachel getting to grips with the new recipes.

My personal favourite was the pilau, a traditional rice dish with tomatoes and potatoes. After all the hard work peeling and chopping, we still managed to scratch down the recipes, and hopefully we can bring a taste of Mombasa back to our friends and families! So keep your eyes open for a Swahili restaurant opening near you!

Rachel 2010

Swahili Cooking Class