enchantingtravels.com 52 ½ cup warm water ½ cup coconut milk / milk / yoghurt ½tsp salt Vegetable oil for frying PREPARATION Sift together the flour and baking powder / yeast with the sugar and spice. Rub in the butter, and make a well in the center of the flour Add the egg, milk and warm water and mix until it becomes a very soft, almost sticky dough. Turn on a well-floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until it becomes soft and elastic Divide the dough into two balls, and flatten them on your floury surface. Let them rest for 20-30 minutes Roll the dough into quarter-inch thickness and cut to your desired shape Deep-fry at 190°C until it is golden brown on both sides Serve with tea, as is the East African custom! Located on the eastern edge of the Mau Forest, and part of the dry highlands of Kenya's Rift Valley, you will find Lare, which is home to a traditional, locally grown variety of pumpkin. Research shows that this highly nutritious crop can mitigate the impact of climate change, and attracts many bees. The leaves are used as a vegetable in the Kenyan dish kimito. The orange flesh of the Lare pumpkin is often made into a flour that you can use for the traditional Kenyan mandazi (donuts). INGREDIENTS 3 cups Lare pumpkin flour / wholewheat flour 2oz (3 tbps) of butter / margarine 1 tsp baking powder / active dry yeast ½ cup sugar 1 tsp each of cardamom powder and cinnamon powder 1 egg 6 EAST AFRICA Lare Pumpkin & Mandazi 60 SOUTH AFRICA Sauerkraut with Baleni Salt Within the South African province of Limpopo lies a natural hot spring called Baleni, which the indigenous Tsonga community believe is sacred. Baleni has been declared a Natural Heritage Site due to its rich ecosystem. Using ancestral traditions, the Tsonga people have been extracting salt from Baleni for 2,000 years, using an ancient, extensive ritual. Even today, only women are allowed to harvest the salt, and every single movement is governed by a secret language, indecipherable to most. INGREDIENTS 1 large head of red / white cabbage 1 apple, grated 1 beetroot, ½ thinly sliced, ½ grated 1 cup fully ripened apple / quince / pear, quartered 1 sprig of de-stemmed rosemary 2-3 strips of dried nori 1 tsp dill seed Baleni Salt (or other good quality salt) A pinch of turmeric powder A pinch of garlic powder 1 lemon, cut into quarters Salt and pepper to taste PREPARATION Slice the cabbage into very thin strips Transfer the cabbage to kitchen scales and record its weight - 2% of the total weight will be how much salt you need Add the salt and cabbage into a large bowl and, with clean hands, begin working the salt into the cabbage through gentle massaging and squeezing. At first it might not seem like enough salt, but gradually the cabbage will become watery and limp and covered by the salt-brine solution Add your other ingredients into the bowl and mix well Transfer your mixture to a sterilized screw jar, packing it in tightly, but leaving space for liquid above the top layer of cabbage. Lightly screw on the lid and place the jar in a cool, dark place. Ferment your cabbage for 7 - 30 days. Keep pressing the cabbage down lightly so that it sits below the liquid. After one week your kraut is ready to eat! 45 12 53 GO SLOW ARGENTINA Chutney de Mistol Crossing northern Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay lies a lowlands ecosystem called Gran Chaco, whereseveralnativewildfruits have been part of indigenous food culture since the pre-Colombian era. The fruits of the drought-resistant white carob, chañar and mistol trees have been used for centuries to make flour, bread and beverages. Not only are they a source of nutrition, they are also used for medicinal purposes. Today as they make a comeback, they can be found in small quantities at the local markets. The mistol tree produces small reddish-brown fruits that have a sweet pulp that can be eaten fresh, boiled or dried in the sun. It’s used to make several local delicacies including arrope, a highly prized homemade syrup, and bolanchao, a popular sweet. This chutney recipe is also a delicious option! If you have trouble getting your hands on mistol, you can also use other fruits and vegetables such as plum, cherry, apple, tomato, zucchini/courgette, or eggplant/aubergine. INGREDIENTS 200 grams of mistol / fruits 2 medium-sized onions 1 cinnamon stick 2 whole cloves 1 tsp cardamom ½ cup of apple cider vinegar Salt and pepper to taste PREPARATION In a jam pan or large pot, brown the onions until they are golden in color Add the mistol / fruits and all the other ingredients. Cook them on a low heat with the lid off until all the liquid has completely evaporated Once the chutney has cooled, decant into an airtight mason or jam jar If refrigerated, you can keep your chutney for up to 6 months! Serve with cheese, meat, fish, or rice. 60 12