Isombe recipe

Rwandan stew of cassava leaves pounded in a mortar, boiled down for a long time with palm oil and finished with peanut paste.

2 hoursmedium9 ingredients

Ingredients

• 1000 g cassava leaves
• 100 ml palm oil
• 3 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 eggplant
• 1 onion
• 2 clove garlic
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1500 ml water

How to make Isombe

1. Strip 1 kg of fresh cassava leaves from their stems and wash them in warm water.
2. Pound them in a mortar until they form a soft, fine mass; frozen pre-pounded cassava leaves from African grocers can replace this step.
3. Bring 1.5 liters of water and 100 ml of palm oil to a boil, add the pounded leaves and boil uncovered for at least 1 hour, stirring now and then: raw cassava leaves contain cyanogenic compounds that only long, open cooking removes, so never shorten this step.
4. Add 1 diced eggplant, 1 chopped onion and 2 crushed garlic cloves and cook for 20 minutes.
5. Add 2 chopped tomatoes and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated.
6. Stir in 3 tablespoons of peanut butter thinned with a little hot water and 1 teaspoon of salt, and cook 10 minutes more, stirring.
7. Serve hot with ugali, rice and beans, or bread.

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