Mseto

Ingredients

The grains

• 300 gshort grain rice
• rinsed
• 200 gsplit mung beans
• or red lentils, rinsed

The pot

• 400 mlthin coconut milk
• the second pressing
• 400 mlthick coconut milk
• the first pressing
• 1onion, finely chopped
• 3garlic cloves, crushed
• 2cm ginger, grated
• 1 teaspoonground turmeric
• 1 teaspoonground cumin
• 1cinnamon stick
• 4cardamom pods
• about 600 ml water
• salt

To serve

• fried fish
• or urojo soup
• lime wedges
• pili pili

Directions

1. Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Rinse the lentils separately as well. Pick the lentils over as you rinse them. Thirty minutes is plenty for split pulses.
2. Heat a little oil in a heavy pot. Add the very finely chopped onion. Cook it for about six minutes. Add the crushed garlic and grated ginger. Cook them for two more full minutes. Add the turmeric and the cumin. Add the cinnamon stick and cardamom.
3. Fry them for about thirty seconds. Add the rinsed lentils to the pot. Add the thin coconut milk and water. Season it with a little salt now. They take a little longer to soften. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Let it cook for about fifteen minutes. Coconut milk splits if boiled hard. Keep it at a bare simmer throughout. Small bubbles should barely break the surface.
4. Add the rinsed rice to the pot. Stir it through it all thoroughly. Short grain rice is what this needs. Let it simmer for about twenty minutes. Stir it regularly all the way through. They burn very quickly if they do.
5. Stir right into the corners of the pot. Use a heavy pot to help with that. Add hot water if it goes too thick. Keep it loose enough to stir freely. Judging it takes a careful taste. Cook it longer if grains stay firm. Adding the thick coconut is the last step.
6. Pour in the thick coconut milk. Stir it gently through the pot. Let it warm through for five minutes. The thick milk must not boil at all. Take the pot off as soon as it is hot. Taste it and adjust the salt as needed. It needs more salt than expected.
7. Taste it properly right at the end. Take out the cardamom pods as well. Take them out or else warn people. Serving it is always done warm. Spoon it out into warm deep bowls. Serve hot fried fish alongside. Put pili pili out on the table. It keeps three days refrigerated.

Technique

• Rice and pulses eaten together complement each other, each supplying amino acids the other lacks, so together they make a far better protein. That pairing turns up across the world — maize and beans, wheat and chickpeas — arrived at by experience rather than coincidence, which is part of why this is cooked for new mothers.
• The thin coconut milk cooks the rice and lentils and the thick goes in only at the end to warm through, since thick coconut milk splits with long cooking and separates into oil and grain. Keep it at a bare simmer throughout.
• The lentils go in fifteen minutes before the rice, since they take longer to soften, and short grain rice is needed for the starch it releases — the merging into a soft loose porridge is the point, and long grain stays too separate.

Substitutions

• Red lentils stand in for split mung beans and cook in much the same time.
• Urojo, the thick sour Zanzibari soup, replaces the fried fish alongside.

Variations

• It is cooked for women after childbirth, being soft, easy to digest, warming and nourishing.
• The spicing is deliberately gentle, with chilli served alongside rather than cooked in.
• Fish out the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods before serving, since they are unpleasant to bite into.

History

A Zanzibari morning dish eaten with fried fish or urojo, and cooked for new mothers to build strength.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mseto?

Mseto is a breakfast from Tanzania: rice and split lentils cooked soft in coconut milk. A Zanzibari morning dish eaten with fried fish or urojo, and cooked for new mothers to build strength.

How long does Mseto take to make?

Mseto takes 15 minutes plus soaking of preparation and 45 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Mseto?

Yes, within limits. Red lentils stand in for split mung beans and cook in much the same time. Urojo, the thick sour Zanzibari soup, replaces the fried fish alongside.

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

Pour in the thick coconut milk. Stir it gently through the pot. Let it warm through for five minutes. The thick milk must not boil at all. Take the pot off as soon as it is hot. Taste it and adjust the salt as needed. It needs more salt than expected.