Ingredients
The pumpkin
- 1.5 kgpumpkin
- peeled, seeded and cut in chunks
- water, for boiling
- salt
To finish
- 2 tablespoonssugar
- or salt, to taste
- a knob of butter, optional
- a little milk, optional
Sometimes served with
- moroho
- cooked pumpkin leaves
- papa or maize meal
- meat stew
To serve
- hot, mashed
- as part of a plate
Directions
- Keep them cool but not at all cold. Keep them dry above everything else. Do not stack them on top of each other. Check them regularly for soft spots. Salt pushes it towards savoury instead. Choose a heavy firm dense pumpkin.
- Cut the pumpkin in half with a heavy knife. Use a heavy sharp knife and take care. Cut it on a stable flat surface. Work slowly rather than forcing it. Seeding it is straightforward enough.
- Scoop the seeds out with a spoon. Cut the halves into wedges first. Cut down the skin with a knife. Cutting it is straightforward enough. Cut the peeled wedges into chunks. Aim for about four centimetres. Put the chunks in a large pot. Add water to come partway up them. Do not cover them completely at all.
- Add a little salt to the water. Cooking it takes about twenty minutes. Bring the pot up to a full boil. Cover it and lower the heat down. Let it cook for about twenty minutes. Judging it takes a careful test. Cook it on if it resists at all. Drain off any remaining water. Mashing it wet gives a sloppy result.
- Drain it very thoroughly first. Return the drained pumpkin to the pot. Set it back over a very low heat. Let it steam dry for a few minutes. Stir it as the water evaporates. It is worth the extra few minutes.
- Mash it with a proper potato masher. It should be smooth but not pureed. Add sugar if you want it sweet. Taste it and adjust it as needed. Start with less than you think. Add more only if it really needs it.
- Stir a knob of butter through it. Stir in a little warm milk as well. Milk loosens a very thick mash. Add it in just a little at a time. It should hold its shape on a spoon. Spoon it out onto warm plates. Serve it as one part of a plate. Meat stew goes with them if there is any.
Technique
- Pumpkins are grown between the maize rows, and the two occupy different space — maize takes the height, pumpkin the ground — so neither crowds the other and the field gives two crops. The pumpkin leaves also shade the soil, keeping moisture in and suppressing weeds, which the maize benefits from.
- One planting gives two foods: the leaves picked and cooked as moroho through the season, and the fruit harvested at the end. Whole pumpkins then keep for months in a cool dry place, which matters through the cold dry Lesotho winter when fresh vegetables are scarce.
- Use only a few centimetres of water rather than covering the chunks, since pumpkin releases a great deal of its own; then drain it and steam it dry in the pot for a few minutes before mashing, which gives a much thicker result. Never use a blender, which makes it gluey and thin.
Substitutions
- Any dense orange pumpkin works; watery varieties give a loose mash, so choose a heavy firm one.
- Butter or a little warm milk stirred through enriches and loosens it.
Variations
- Some households add sugar and others only salt; both are genuinely done and neither is more correct.
- The seeds can be washed and roasted as a snack rather than discarded.
- It is one component of a plate alongside papa, moroho and meat stew rather than a dish on its own.
History
Pumpkins are interplanted with maize in Basotho fields; the leaves are eaten as moroho and the fruit stores through winter.
Frequently asked questions
What is Mokopu?
Mokopu is a salad & side from Lesotho: pumpkin boiled soft and mashed with a little sugar or salt. Pumpkins are interplanted with maize in Basotho fields; the leaves are eaten as moroho and the fruit stores through winter.
How long does Mokopu take to make?
Mokopu takes 20 minutes of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Mokopu?
Yes, within limits. Any dense orange pumpkin works; watery varieties give a loose mash, so choose a heavy firm one. Butter or a little warm milk stirred through enriches and loosens it.
What is the most important thing to get right in Mokopu?
Keep them cool but not at all cold. Keep them dry above everything else. Do not stack them on top of each other. Check them regularly for soft spots. Salt pushes it towards savoury instead. Choose a heavy firm dense pumpkin.
