Mazondo

Ingredients

The trotters

• 2 kgcow trotters
• cut into pieces by the butcher
• cleaned and singed
• water, to cover

The pot

• 3onions, chopped
• 6garlic cloves, crushed
• 4tomatoes, chopped
• 3 tablespoonsoil
• 2 teaspoonscurry powder
• 1 teaspoonground black pepper
• 2bay leaves
• 1beef stock cube
• salt

To finish

• 2hot chillies, chopped
• a handful of coriander, chopped

To serve

• sadza
• hot chilli
• cold beer
• plenty of napkins

Directions

1. Check them and finish the job if not. Scrub them hard with a stiff brush. Rinse them under running water. Repeat it until the water runs clear. It is cooked stiff enough to hold in the hand. Check them over for any remaining hair. Hold the piece over the flame with tongs.
2. Turn it so the hair burns off evenly. Scrub each piece with a stiff brush. Work into all the crevices thoroughly. Rinse them under cold running water. This takes real time with two kilograms.
3. Put the trotters in a large pot. Cover them well with cold water. Bring them all up to a full boil. Let them boil for about ten minutes. Drain the trotters into a colander. Discard all of that first water. Rinse the trotters under running water. Wash the pot out well as well. It takes a moment and is worth it.
4. Return the trotters to the clean pot. Cover them with fresh cold water. Add the bay leaves and a little salt. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Simmering them takes several hours. Cover the pot and lower the heat right down.
5. Let them simmer for about three hours. A bare simmer keeps it clearer. Check the water level now and then. Add hot water if it drops too far. The trotters must stay covered throughout.
6. Add hot water rather than cold. Cold water stops the cooking briefly. Cook them on if they are still white. Rub a little broth between your fingers. It should feel sticky and tacky. Heat the oil in a separate wide pan. Add the chopped onions in to it. Cook them for a good ten minutes.
7. Let them soften and turn golden. Add the crushed garlic to them. Add the curry powder and black pepper. Cook them for one full minute. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan. Cook them down for about ten minutes. The tomato must cook right down.
8. Oil should separate at the edges. Raw tomato taste should be entirely gone. Add the sauce to the trotter pot. Add the stock cube to the pot. Keep most of the cooking broth. Do not throw it away at any point.
9. Let it simmer uncovered for thirty minutes. It should coat the trotters visibly. Reduce it further if it is still loose. Taste it and adjust the salt as needed. Add plenty of black pepper as well. It usually needs more salt than expected.
10. Taste it properly right at the end. Stir in the chopped hot chillies. Let them cook for five minutes. Scatter chopped coriander over it. Serving it is always done piping hot. Ladle it out into a large bowl. Serve stiff sadza alongside it. Put more hot chilli on the table. Serve very cold beer alongside it. It keeps three days refrigerated.

Technique

• Trotters are almost entirely skin, bone and tendon with very little meat; what they hold is collagen, which is inedible raw but breaks down into gelatin over hours of moist cooking. That gelatin is the whole point — it makes the broth sticky, coats the lips and sets the pot solid when cold. Three to four hours is normal and there is no way to hurry it.
• The cleaning is most of the work: singe any remaining hair over a flame, scrape the skin with a blunt knife, and scrub hard with a stiff brush including between the toes until the water runs clear. Then blanch them for ten minutes, throw that water away and wash the pot, which draws out scum and gives a far cleaner broth.
• Test by looking at the tendons, which go from white and opaque to clear and jelly-like, and by rubbing a little broth between your fingers — it should feel tacky, which means the collagen has broken down.

Substitutions

• Pig trotters cook the same way and give the same gelatin.
• Keep the cooking broth rather than draining it, since that gelatin is the body of the finished dish.

Variations

• It is cooked in a large pot over an outdoor fire at weekend gatherings.
• It is served with stiff sadza used to scoop it, and eaten entirely with the hands.
• It sets solid when cold and needs gentle reheating to loosen again.

History

A Zimbabwean bar and weekend dish, cooked slowly over an outdoor fire and eaten with sadza and hot chilli.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mazondo?

Mazondo is a main from Zimbabwe: cow trotters stewed for hours to a sticky gelatinous broth. A Zimbabwean bar and weekend dish, cooked slowly over an outdoor fire and eaten with sadza and hot chilli.

How long does Mazondo take to make?

Mazondo takes 40 minutes of preparation and 4 hours of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Mazondo?

Yes, within limits. Pig trotters cook the same way and give the same gelatin. Keep the cooking broth rather than draining it, since that gelatin is the body of the finished dish.

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

Let them simmer for about three hours. A bare simmer keeps it clearer. Check the water level now and then. Add hot water if it drops too far. The trotters must stay covered throughout.