Ibihaza

Ingredients

Beans

• 400 gdried red or brown beans
• water, for soaking
• 2 litreswater, for cooking

Pumpkin

• 1.5 kgpumpkin or squash
• peeled and in large chunks

To season

• 2onions, chopped
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• black pepper
• a little water, as needed

Sometimes added

• 2 tablespoonspalm oil
• 1tomato, chopped
• a handful of greens

To serve

• as a meal on its own
• or with ubugali
• tea alongside

Directions

1. Rinse the dried beans in cold water. Pick out any small stones or shrivelled beans. Cover them with plenty of cold water. Soak them for at least eight hours. They swell to about twice their size. Drain the soaked beans thoroughly.
2. Rinse them well under running water. Never cook them in their soaking water. Put the beans into a large pot. Cover them well with fresh cold water. Bring it up to a rolling boil.
3. Let it boil hard for ten full minutes. Do not cover the pot during that boil. Cover the pot partly with a lid. Give them about an hour and a quarter.
4. Top up with hot water if they get dry. They should be tender but still whole. Add the salt only once they are tender. Salting them early keeps their skins tough. Cut the pumpkin in half with a heavy knife.
5. Scoop out the seeds and fibres. Cut it up into thick even wedges. Cut the skin off each wedge with a knife. Keep all the pieces fairly large. Add the chopped onions to the beans. Add the crushed garlic as well. Do not stir them down into the beans.
6. Add a little water only if the pot is dry. Cooking it on takes about half an hour. Cover the pot and simmer gently. Give it about thirty full minutes. Shake the pot rather than stirring it hard.
7. Turn the chunks once with a spoon. The pumpkin should be completely soft. Taste it and adjust the salt now. Add black pepper to it as well. Add palm oil now if you are using it. Stir in a handful of greens near the end. Give them about five full minutes. Spoon it out into warm deep bowls. Hot tea is drunk alongside it.

Technique

• Dried red kidney beans contain phytohaemagglutinin, a natural toxin that causes severe vomiting from as few as four or five raw beans; soaking does not remove it, and the beans must be boiled hard for ten full minutes, uncovered and without reducing the heat.
• Never cook dried kidney beans in a slow cooker, since it can hold them at a temperature that actually increases the toxin rather than destroying it; tinned beans are already cooked and are safe.
• The beans take far longer than the pumpkin and must be nearly cooked before it goes in, since adding them together gives collapsed pumpkin; that separation of timing is the whole technique.

Substitutions

• Any dried bean works, and Rwanda grows red, brown, speckled and climbing varieties.
• Butternut or crown prince squash stand in for local pumpkin.

Variations

• Some households add palm oil and others deliberately add none.
• A handful of greens stirred in near the end makes it a fuller meal.
• It is eaten alone or alongside ubugali.

History

Pumpkin cooked with beans in one pot, a rural dish praised as filling food that needs neither oil nor meat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ibihaza?

Ibihaza is a main from Rwanda: pumpkin chunks simmered together with beans. Pumpkin cooked with beans in one pot, a rural dish praised as filling food that needs neither oil nor meat.

How long does Ibihaza take to make?

Ibihaza takes 25 minutes plus soaking of preparation and 2 hours of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Ibihaza?

Yes, within limits. Any dried bean works, and Rwanda grows red, brown, speckled and climbing varieties. Butternut or crown prince squash stand in for local pumpkin.

What is the most important thing to get right in Ibihaza?

Rinse them well under running water. Never cook them in their soaking water. Put the beans into a large pot. Cover them well with fresh cold water. Bring it up to a rolling boil.