Ingredients
Grain
- 500 gstamped maize kernels
- samp, or stamped sorghum
- water, for soaking
Beans
- 300 gdried beans
- sugar beans or any dried bean
- soaked overnight separately
The pot
- about 3 litres water
- 2 teaspoonssalt
- 1onion, chopped, optional
- a knob of butter, optional
- black pepper
To serve
- as a whole meal
- with a green relish
- or with meat
- sour milk alongside
Directions
- Rinse the stamped grain thoroughly. Pick out any stones or loose chaff. Put it all into a large clean bowl. Cover it with plenty of cold water. Leave it to soak there overnight. Unsoaked grain can take five hours.
- Rinse the beans and pick them over. Put them into a separate bowl. Cover them with plenty of cold water. Leave them to soak there overnight. Drain the beans and rinse them. Discard the soaking water entirely.
- Put the drained beans in a pot. Cover them well with fresh water. Bring the pot up to a full boil. Let it boil hard for fifteen minutes. Ten minutes at a rolling boil is the minimum.
- Drain the soaked grain and rinse it. Put it all into a large heavy pot. Add the water and the salt to it. Bring the pot up to a full boil. Cooking it out takes several hours.
- Cover the pot and let it cook on. Give it about two full hours there. Stir it now and then as it goes. Check it every half hour or so. Add boiling water as it is absorbed. Never let the pot boil dry at all. Add the hard-boiled beans to the grain. The beans need less time than the grain. Let them simmer together gently. Give them a good full hour more.
- Add hot water as it is absorbed. Judging it takes a careful taste. Taste it and adjust the salt as needed. Add black pepper if you want it. Stir in a knob of butter for richness. Fry chopped onion in a little oil.
- Stir it through the finished pot. Serving it is always done piping hot. Spoon it into bowls or onto plates. Serve a green relish alongside. It keeps four days refrigerated.
Technique
- The atlas description lists sorghum, beans and wheat berries while the history describes whole stamped maize kernels; those do not entirely agree. Stamped maize or sorghum with beans is the dish, wheat is not the traditional grain for it, and the recipe follows accordingly.
- Stamping pounds whole grain in a wooden mortar to crack the kernels and knock off the hulls without grinding them to meal, so the kernels stay whole and chewy and take hours rather than minutes; it is a quite different food from fine maize meal, and it predates commercial milling.
- Red kidney beans contain phytohaemagglutinin, which soaking does not remove, so they need a hard rolling boil of at least ten minutes and a slow simmer alone is not enough; sugar beans carry far less but the hard boil costs nothing and is worth doing regardless.
Substitutions
- Stamped sorghum works in place of stamped maize and is equally traditional.
- Sugar beans are the usual choice, though any dried bean works.
Variations
- Fried onion stirred through at the end adds flavour without changing the dish.
- A knob of butter is stirred in for richness in some households.
- It is served plain with a green relish, which carries the flavour of the meal.
History
Whole stamped maize kernels boiled for hours, often with beans, the older Basotho staple predating fine maize meal.
Frequently asked questions
What is Likhobe?
Likhobe is a main from Lesotho: slow-boiled sorghum, beans and wheat berries, mountain sustenance. Whole stamped maize kernels boiled for hours, often with beans, the older Basotho staple predating fine maize meal.
How long does Likhobe take to make?
Likhobe takes 20 minutes plus soaking of preparation and 3 hours of cooking. The recipe makes serves 8. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Likhobe?
Yes, within limits. Stamped sorghum works in place of stamped maize and is equally traditional. Sugar beans are the usual choice, though any dried bean works.
What is the most important thing to get right in Likhobe?
Cover the pot and let it cook on. Give it about two full hours there. Stir it now and then as it goes. Check it every half hour or so. Add boiling water as it is absorbed. Never let the pot boil dry at all. Add the hard-boiled beans to the grain. The beans need less time than the grain. Let them simmer together gently. Give them a good full hour more.
