Irio | Comfort Kenyan Style

Now I know we all have our own comfort foods. Sometimes we try to add a twist here and there and make them taste more comforting. A little extra spice/seasoning, sometimes replacing an element with another. All these jazzes up our comfort food. 

Exactly the same I felt when I made irio. This is actually Kenyan style mashed potatoes with corn and peas. Atleast thats what I have googled and found. The basic recipe is supposed to be made using dried peas and usually takes hours if done stovetop.

But the wonders of frozen peas and corn have reduced this time. Thats what I understood and made use of when I made this from here. A jazzed up mashed potato with a greenish tinge. Perfect as a side and usually served with steak.

Ingredients:

Potato: 1-2 medium-big 

Frozen peas: 1/2 cup

Frozen corn: 1/2 cup

Salt & Pepper: as per taste

Butter: 1 tbsp (optional) I have not used any

Preparation:

Peel and chop the potatoes into smaller cubes and cook them in boiling water until fork tender.Few minutes before the potatoes are done, add in the thawed peas as well. Drain this together reserving a small cup of the boiling liquid incase it is needed.

Simmer the corn in salted water for few minutes and keep aside.

In a wide vessel mash together peas and potatoes to get a greenish tinged puree. Stir in corn along with little of the reserved liquid. Adjust salt & pepper and serve as a comforting side.You can even add in a tablespoon of soft butter while mashing. This will definitely make it more rich but then its not vegan.So you can make your choice. I went for vegan all the way without adding butter.

A simple jazzed up spud salad which takes it to all the more comforting. If  you have any leftover mash then you can even turn it into tikkis or cutlets the next day.

Dengu -Kenyan Mung Bean Stew

I found this recipe first in an old issue of a magazine and was surprised as to whether such a dish exists,I mean Kenya and our good old green gram or mung bean.Anyway I googled as usual and found few related entries and have adapted mine from here.

Ingredients:
MungBeans: 1/2 cup

Ghee/butter: 2-3 tsp+
Onion:1 small
Garlic: 1-2 small cloves

Tomato Puree: 1/4 cup +

Green BellPepper: 1 small
Red BellPepper: 1 small
Fresh Red Chilly : 1
Green Chilli :1

Preparation:

Cook Mung Beans in water till tender.I use a pressure cooker for this though stove top also works.Mash the beans though I did not do it.Once cooked in the cooker it reaches the mashed consistency by itself.Chop onions and crush garlic.Chop the bell peppers into bite size pieces.Slit the chillies.I used fresh red jalapeno in this dish along with a small normal green chilli.The no: and type of chillies can be adjusted as per taste and the required heat.

Heat ghee in a pan.Add chopped onions and crushed garlic and saute till transparent.Add puree into this and let it cook for a few minutes .Then add the cooked beans,slit chillies,salt and chopped peppers.Add water as needed to make the gravy and cook for about 15 minutes more till the required thickness is reached.Upon cooling the stew thickens so cook considering this aspect.

Serve warm with rice/bread or as a hearty soup.

Another interesting factor is the use of ghee in the recipe.Butter or oil can be used instead of ghee as well.I never ever thought that even ghee would be a Kenyan ingredient.It seems few cuisines apart from Indian cuisine use ghee. Well, the dish was hearty and has become a regular.A nice change from the normal or common Indian style mung curries.