flipDek mar sukuma — sautéed sukuma wiki with onions
Dek mar sukuma — sautéed sukuma wiki with onions
Why this dish? Sukuma wiki — literally 'push the week' in Swahili — is the everyday vegetable of Nairobi city-dwellers like Oruka: cheap, nourishing, it would last until payday. The urban philosopher that he was ate it at his Nairobi table.
Finely shredded collard greens, quickly sautéed with onion and tomato. The green, slightly bitter companion of every East African meal.
They say sukuma wiki, 'push the week', and you need to understand the folk wisdom in that: when the purse is thin, it's these green leaves that keep the family going till Friday. In Nairobi, between two lectures at the university, this is what I ate unceremoniously. Slice fine, let the onion sing, throw in the leaves and don't drown them — a little bitterness is the mark of good health.
- •Collard greens (sukuma wiki) — one large bunch (main vegetable)
- •Onion — one (aromatic base)
- •Tomato — one (binder)
- •Oil — a drizzle (cooking)
- •Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Dek mar sukuma — sautéed sukuma wiki with onions
Finely shredded collard greens, quickly sautéed with onion and tomato. The green, slightly bitter companion of every East African meal.
Why this dish? Sukuma wiki — literally 'push the week' in Swahili — is the everyday vegetable of Nairobi city-dwellers like Oruka: cheap, nourishing, it would last until payday. The urban philosopher that he was ate it at his Nairobi table.
They say sukuma wiki, 'push the week', and you need to understand the folk wisdom in that: when the purse is thin, it's these green leaves that keep the family going till Friday. In Nairobi, between two lectures at the university, this is what I ate unceremoniously. Slice fine, let the onion sing, throw in the leaves and don't drown them — a little bitterness is the mark of good health.
Ingredients (period version)
- Collard greens (sukuma wiki) — one large bunch (main vegetable)
- Onion — one (aromatic base)
- Tomato — one (binder)
- Oil — a drizzle (cooking)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Collard greens or kale (sukuma wiki) — 1 large bunch (400 g) (main vegetable)
- Onion — 1, sliced (aromatic base)
- Tomato — 1, chopped (binder)
- Vegetable oil — 2 tbsp (cooking)
- Salt — 1/2 tsp (seasoning)
- Lemon juice — a squeeze (brightens bitterness)
Method
- Wash the leaves, remove the toughest stems, roll them up and slice finely into ribbons.
- Heat the oil and brown the sliced onion.
- Add the tomato, let it melt for 3 min.
- Toss in the collard ribbons, salt, and sauté on high heat for 5 to 7 min: they should stay green and slightly crunchy.
- Finish with a squeeze of lemon and serve alongside ugali.
How it was made : Sukuma wiki spread as a popular vegetable in colonial and postcolonial Kenya: grown in any garden, sold in bunches at the market, it was cooked quickly on the charcoal stove (jiko). Its slight bitterness was corrected by onion and tomato.
The contemporary twist : A pinch of toasted sesame seeds at plating and the dish goes from the neighbourhood stove to the modern table without renouncing anything.
Henry Odera Oruka · Charactorium
