Firinda

Ingredients

Beans

• 500 gdried rosecoco or red kidney beans, soaked overnight
• water

To finish

• 2onions, finely chopped
• 3 tbspghee or butter
• 2tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tspsalt
• black pepper

To serve

• matoke
• posho
• rice

Directions

1. Soak the beans overnight, then boil them in plenty of unsalted water for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, until completely soft.
2. Drain them, keeping some of the cooking liquid, and let them cool just enough to handle.
3. Now peel them. Rub each bean between finger and thumb so that the skin slips off, and discard every single skin.
4. The peeling is the entire dish and it is why firinda was cooked for royal households rather than for everyday meals. The skins are what make ordinary beans coarse, and removing them gives a purée that is genuinely silky.
5. Expect it to take a while. There is no shortcut and a food processor cannot do it for you.
6. Mash the peeled beans thoroughly, adding a little of the reserved cooking liquid until smooth.
7. Fry the onion in the ghee until soft and golden, about 10 minutes, then add the tomato and cook for 5 minutes more.
8. Fold the onion and tomato through the mashed beans.
9. Season with salt and pepper and warm it through, adding more liquid until it is soft and spoonable.
10. Serve with matoke, posho or rice, at functions and celebrations, which is where it usually appears.

Technique

• Peel them warm. Cold beans grip their skins and the job becomes twice as slow.
• It is a Buganda dish, once cooked for royal households and still served at Kampala functions.
• Ghee rather than oil. It is a plain dish and the fat is one of the two flavours in it.

Substitutions

• Any dried bean with a reasonably loose skin, though rosecoco is the traditional one.
• Tinned beans, drained and peeled, which is far quicker and slightly less good.

Variations

• With groundnut paste stirred through for richness.
• Made looser, as a sauce rather than a mash.
• With a little curry powder, which is a modern Kampala addition.

History

A Buganda dish of skinned mashed beans, once cooked for royal households and still served at Kampala functions.

Frequently asked questions

What is Firinda?

Firinda is a salad & side from Uganda: beans boiled soft, peeled and mashed smooth with onion and ghee. A Buganda dish of skinned mashed beans, once cooked for royal households and still served at Kampala functions.

How long does Firinda take to make?

Firinda takes 1 hr plus overnight soaking of preparation and 2 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Firinda?

Yes, within limits. Any dried bean with a reasonably loose skin, though rosecoco is the traditional one. Tinned beans, drained and peeled, which is far quicker and slightly less good.

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

The peeling is the entire dish and it is why firinda was cooked for royal households rather than for everyday meals. The skins are what make ordinary beans coarse, and removing them gives a purée that is genuinely silky.