Ugali is one of the types of meals that are eaten in all homes in this country that is found in East Africa.
Table of Contents
✦ The Flour Used For Ugali
Ugali is made from maize flour. It is important not to confuse cornflour with maize flour. The maize flour is white in color, while the cornflour is yellow in color. The type of maize that is used for maize flour is normally grown in sub-Saharan African countries.
✦ Different Types of Flour Used to Make Ugali
✦ 1. Whole Grained Maize Flour
This is a type of maize flour as the name goes, none of the maize parts are removed while converting it into flour. According to the research, this is one of the healthy maize flour to use because it has all the nutritional benefits of maize.
✦ 2. Refined Maize Flour
This is also known as grade one maize flour. During the milling process, most of the hard parts of the maize are removed. And this makes it easy to digest the ugali made from this kind of maize flour. I have to mention that this is the flour that is used by the majority of people in Kenya.
✦ 3. Brown Ugali Flour
This is a type of ugali flour that is full of nutrients. It’s made by milling maize, millet, and sorghum. It’s healthy and at the same time, it is heavy for the stomach. Thus, it’s recommended to eat it in small amounts. The majority of people who eat this type of flour are from the Western region of Kenya.
✦ What to Combine Ugali With
✦ 1. Nyama Choma
If you go to a Nyama Choma place or a restaurant, the majority of the Kenyans eat ugali with nyama choma. It is also served with a salad locally known as kachumbari. The salad is normally spiced up with chili pepper.
✦ 2. The Stew
In most Kenyan homes, they eat ugali with a stew. It can be either chicken or beef stew combined with some green vegetables. As they say, if you are not sure of what to cook, make a stew. The best thing about the stew is that you can spice it according to your taste and preference.
✦ 3. Vegetables
Are you a vegetarian or a vegan? Then this is something that you can include in your meals. You can prepare some green vegetables or cabbage and then enjoy your ugali. If you are not on any special diets, then you can cook the vegetables with some meat of your choice.
✦ How to Eat Ugali
There are no rules on how to eat ugali. Whether you choose a fork, a spoon, or hands, enjoy your meal. That’s all that matters.
Having said that, the majority of Kenyans eat ugali by use of their hands. You pick a piece of ugali and then use it to pick up some of your stew or vegetables, then you eat them together. Whichever you prefer, make sure you enjoy this Kenyan meal!
✦ 1. What You Need to Cook Ugali
- 2 cups of water
- 4 Cups of maize flour
- 1 spoon of margarine
- 1/4 cup of milk
✦ 2. How to Prepare Ugali
- 1. Boil the water with an electric kettle
- 2. From that measure the 2 cups of water and put it cooking pot and place it in your cooker
- 3. While the water is still boiling, add a spoon of margarine and the 1/4 cup of milk
- 4. Then wait until it gets to the boiling point once again
- 5. Add the 4 cups of maize flour
- 6. Start stirring with a wooden stick until there are no lumps of flour in the mixture
- 7. Keep stirring until it is a thick consistency and then shape it to look like a cone
- 8. Reduce the temperature of the cooker and cover it
- 9. Let it cook for 10 minutes but keep turning it upside down every 2 to 3 minutes
✦ 3. Using an Oven
After you have shaped your ugali into a shape of a cone, you can also choose to put it into an oven. Warm it up to 180 degrees and place it in there for 10 minutes. You do not have to keep turning it. And your meal is ready to be served! Bon appetit!
