An average Kenyan household generally eats ugali na sukuma wiki for dinner. Sukuma wiki is similar to collard greens and usually boiled with some tomatoes and onions. To eat sukuma wiki you do not need any silverware. Use either ugali or chapati to pick up the sukuma wiki and then put it in your mouth to eat it.
Sukuma Wiki is made out of any leafy green vegetable, mainly collards or kale. Incidentally, sukuma wiki means “to push the week” which implies sukuma wiki is a food used to stretch the meals to last for the week.
Sukuma Wiki Recipe
2 tablespoons shortening (or oil)
1 Onion
2 or 3 Tomatoes, chopped
2 Pounds of Sukuma Greens, chopped
Salt
1. Melt shortening in a pot and add the onions.
2. Stir well and sauté for a bit.
3. Add tomato and sauté.
4. Add sukuma and sauté for a short time.
5. Add 1/2 cup water and then salt to taste.
6. Let the mixture simmer until the sukuma has reached a desired tenderness.
Serve warm with ugali or chapati.
Substitutions and Additions
*Use kale, collard greens, cassava leaves, pumpkin leaves, sweet potato leaves, or spinach in place of the sukuma greens.
*Add in red pepper, chili peppers (chopped), cayenne pepper to taste.
*To make this a main dish –
Take the juice of one lemon
2 tablespoons of flour
A few spoonfuls of water
Mix until smooth
Add to sukuma recipe when it’s almost done
Add leftover cooked meat like nyama choma, browned ground beef, cut up pork, beef, chicken, etc.
Sukuma wiki, kale, and collard greens are very nutritious and have powerful antioxidant properties and are anti-inflammatory. These greens are very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium. They are contain folic acid (folate, folacin), a B-complex vitamin known for its importance in pregnancy and prevention of pregnancy defects.