Makande

Ingredients

Grain and beans

• 500 gdried maize kernels
• whole or stamped
• soaked overnight
• 400 gdried beans
• soaked overnight separately

The pot

• about 3 litres water
• 2 teaspoonssalt
• 2onions, chopped, optional
• 3tomatoes, chopped, optional
• 3 tablespoonsoil
• 200 mlcoconut milk, optional
• black pepper

Sometimes added

• carrot, diced
• potato, diced
• a little meat or bone

To serve

• hot in bowls
• as a whole meal
• with a green relish

Directions

1. Work camps cook it for the same reason. It needs only water, salt and time. Rinse the dried maize thoroughly. Pick out any stones or loose chaff. Put it all into a large clean bowl. Cover it with plenty of cold water.
2. Leave it to soak there overnight. Unsoaked maize 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 all of the soaking water.
3. 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 maize and rinse it. Put it 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.
4. 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.
5. Add the hard-boiled beans to the maize. The beans need less time than the maize. 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. Fry the onions and tomatoes in the oil.
6. Stir them through the finished pot. Give it ten more minutes together. Stir coconut milk in near the end. Let it warm right through gently. Do not let it boil hard afterwards. Add hot water if it is too thick. Simmer it uncovered if it is too wet. Taste it and adjust the salt as needed. It needs more than you might expect.
7. Add black pepper to taste as well. Serving it is always done piping hot. Spoon it into bowls or onto plates. Serve a green relish alongside it. It keeps four days refrigerated.

Technique

• The basic dish is maize, beans, water and salt, and that plainness is exactly why it feeds crowds: it scales without difficulty, needs no browning or careful timing, cooks unattended for hours and lets one person cook for hundreds, which is why boarding schools and work camps make it.
• Red kidney beans are among those used and contain phytohaemagglutinin, which soaking does not remove and which needs at least ten minutes at a full rolling boil; a slow simmer alone is not enough and low heat can increase the toxicity, so do the hard boil whatever bean you use.
• Whole maize never goes completely soft and keeps a chewy bite even when done, which is correct rather than undercooked; judge it by the absence of hard centres instead.

Substitutions

• Stamped maize cooks a little faster than whole kernels.
• Coconut milk stirred in near the end is the coastal version; up-country cooking leaves it out.

Variations

• Fried onion and tomato stirred through adds flavour without changing the dish.
• Carrot, potato or a little meat go in where available.
• The plain version with only water and salt is equally correct.

History

A Chagga and up-country dish, cooked in bulk at boarding schools and work camps because it needs only water, salt and time.

Frequently asked questions

What is Makande?

Makande is a main from Tanzania: maize kernels and beans boiled together for hours into a hearty one-pot. A Chagga and up-country dish, cooked in bulk at boarding schools and work camps because it needs only water, salt and time.

How long does Makande take to make?

Makande takes 15 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 Makande?

Yes, within limits. Stamped maize cooks a little faster than whole kernels. Coconut milk stirred in near the end is the coastal version; up-country cooking leaves it out.

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

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.