Irio

Ingredients

The base

• 1.2 kgpotatoes, peeled and quartered
• 400 ggreen maize kernels
• fresh or frozen
• 400 ggreen peas
• fresh or frozen
• water, for boiling
• 2 teaspoonssalt

To finish

• 50 gbutter
• or 3 tablespoons oil
• 1onion, finely chopped, optional
• salt and black pepper
• a little of the cooking water

Sometimes added

• a handful of pumpkin leaves
• or spinach, for colour
• 1 tablespoonchopped coriander

To serve

• nyama choma, grilled meat
• or a beef stew
• kachumbari salad

Directions

1. Peel the potatoes and quarter them. Strip green maize from the cob if fresh. Stand the cob up and cut downwards. Shell the peas if they are fresh. Put the maize in a large pot first. Cover it with water and add the salt.
2. Bring the whole pot up to a boil. Give the maize about fifteen minutes. Add the quartered potatoes to the pot. Give them about twenty minutes. Add the peas for the final eight minutes. Drain everything in a colander. Keep a cup of the cooking water back.
3. Let it all steam dry for a minute. Return everything to the dry pot. Work while it is still genuinely hot. Cold potato goes gluey when mashed.
4. Add the butter to the hot mixture. Mash it with a masher or a pestle. Mash it firmly but not endlessly. The potato and peas should break down. Add reserved cooking water a little at a time. Mash it in between each addition. It should be soft but hold its shape.
5. Fry the chopped onion in butter first. Cook it until soft and golden. Mash it through with everything else. Boil pumpkin leaves or spinach separately. Squeeze them out very thoroughly. Chop them finely and mash them through.
6. Taste it and add salt generously. Potato mash needs a good deal of salt. Add black pepper to it as well. Taste it again before serving. Serving it is done piping hot.
7. Shape it into a mound on the plate. Some cooks press it into a smooth dome. Serve nyama choma alongside it. It keeps two days refrigerated.

Technique

• Irio means food in Kikuyu and the name is that general; mukimo is the closely related dish, usually including greens such as pumpkin leaves mashed through for a deeper green, and the two names are used loosely and overlap.
• Green maize is used rather than dried, and its soft milky kernels stay whole through the mashing while the potato and peas break down; that contrast is what makes it irio, and a completely smooth mash misses the point.
• Mash while everything is genuinely hot, since cold potato goes gluey, and stop as soon as the potato and peas break down, because over-mashing makes potato elastic and crushes the maize.

Substitutions

• Frozen maize and peas work perfectly well in place of fresh.
• Oil stands in for butter, though butter gives a better flavour.

Variations

• Mukimo adds pumpkin leaves or spinach mashed through for a deeper green.
• Some households fry an onion and mash it through and others leave it out.
• It is served with nyama choma, stew or kachumbari alike.

History

Kikuyu mash of peas, potato and green maize, pounded together and served at weddings and to new mothers.

Frequently asked questions

What is Irio?

Irio is a salad & side from Kenya: mashed potatoes with peas and whole maize kernels. Kikuyu mash of peas, potato and green maize, pounded together and served at weddings and to new mothers.

How long does Irio take to make?

Irio takes 25 minutes of preparation and 45 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Irio?

Yes, within limits. Frozen maize and peas work perfectly well in place of fresh. Oil stands in for butter, though butter gives a better flavour.

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

Bring the whole pot up to a boil. Give the maize about fifteen minutes. Add the quartered potatoes to the pot. Give them about twenty minutes. Add the peas for the final eight minutes. Drain everything in a colander. Keep a cup of the cooking water back.