Kanyenya

Ingredients

Fish or meat

• 800 gfish fillets or steaks
• or 800 g beef or goat, in strips
• juice of 2 lemons
• 2 teaspoonssalt

Batter

• 250 gplain flour
• 50 gcornflour
• 1 teaspoonbaking powder
• 2 teaspoonssalt
• 1 teaspoonblack pepper
• 1 teaspoonpaprika
• 1 teaspoongarlic powder
• 1stock cube, crumbled
• about 300 ml cold water

Chips

• 1 kgpotatoes
• oil, for deep frying
• salt

To serve

• salt and chilli powder
• newspaper or paper
• tomato sauce
• a cold drink

Directions

1. Warm water gives a chewy bready coating. Mix the batter at the last moment. Cut the fish into portion pieces. Rinse them and pat them completely dry. Rub them with lemon juice and salt. Let them sit for fifteen minutes. Pat them dry again before battering.
2. Peel the potatoes and cut them into chips. Cut them into fairly thick chips. Rinse them well in cold water. That stops the chips sticking together. Heat the oil to about 150C first.
3. Fry the chips for about six minutes. They should be soft but not coloured. Lift them out and let them cool. Frying once gives a soft or a burnt chip. Mix the flour and cornflour in a bowl. Add the baking powder and all the seasonings. Crumble in the stock cube as well. Whisk them together thoroughly.
4. Add cold water gradually while whisking. It should coat the back of a spoon thickly. Add water or flour a little at a time. Frying the fish needs the right heat.
5. Dip a piece of fish fully in the batter. Let the excess drip off for a second. Do not crowd the pan at any point. Fry it for about six full minutes. Turn it over once as it colours. It should be deep golden and crisp.
6. Break one open from the first batch. The fish inside should be opaque and flaking. Fry the cooled chips for about three minutes. They should be deep golden and crisp.
7. Lift them out and salt them at once. Lift everything onto a wire rack. A rack keeps things crisp all round. Pile the fish and chips onto paper. Scatter salt and chilli powder over them. Serve tomato sauce alongside them. It must be eaten genuinely hot.

Technique

• Chambo, a group of tilapia species endemic to Lake Malawi, is the traditional fish, but stocks have declined severely from overfishing, catches have fallen sharply over decades and closed seasons are hard to enforce on a large lake; usipa, the small lake sardine, is now more common and recovers faster, and any firm fish works.
• Cornflour mixed with the plain flour contains no gluten, which makes the coating crisper and lighter and stops it going tough; cold water slows gluten development for the same reason.
• Chips are fried twice, first at a lower heat to cook the potato through and again hot to crisp the outside, with the cooling between being what makes it work.

Substitutions

• Any firm fish works, and beef or goat strips are fried the same way.
• Usipa, the small lake sardine, is more abundant than chambo and is widely used.

Variations

• Some stalls dust the fish in dry flour before battering it.
• Meat kanyenya is fried in the same batter and oil.
• Salt and chilli powder are scattered over at the stall.

History

A Blantyre and Lilongwe street trade cooked in vats of oil at roadside stalls, eaten straight from newspaper with salt and chili.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kanyenya?

Kanyenya is a street food from Malawi: fish or meat deep-fried in seasoned batter and served with hot chips. A Blantyre and Lilongwe street trade cooked in vats of oil at roadside stalls, eaten straight from newspaper with salt and chili.

How long does Kanyenya take to make?

Kanyenya takes 30 minutes of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Kanyenya?

Yes, within limits. Any firm fish works, and beef or goat strips are fried the same way. Usipa, the small lake sardine, is more abundant than chambo and is widely used.

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

Warm water gives a chewy bready coating. Mix the batter at the last moment. Cut the fish into portion pieces. Rinse them and pat them completely dry. Rub them with lemon juice and salt. Let them sit for fifteen minutes. Pat them dry again before battering.