From West to East and from Central to Southern Africa, cassava has played a major role in serving as a staple food in many households. The only difference is the way communities and their traditions choose to serve it on their plate. From my father’s side, which is the northern part of Malawi, people eat cassava from breakfast to lunch and in dinner and desserts. They will make cassava into millet, which is prepared to be eaten with soup, meat, legumes, and vegetables.
From my mother’s side they eat it a lot with breakfast or as dessert and in savoury pastries. It is from this side of my family that I learned how to make cassava fritters from my Auntie Monica (Mrs Chitawo). Yummy!
Today I will be making the cassava fritters that I now make for my own children.
Ingredients
- 1 cassava
- 1teaspoon fresh crushed ginger
- 3 garlic cloves
- Couple of shallots
- 1teaspoon aromat seasoning
- ½ cup each red & white onions
- ¼ cup cornflour
- 4 sun dried tomatoes
- Olive oil
- 3 sweet mixed peppers
- A pinch of salt
- 1teaspoon mixed (barbeque, chilli flakes, paprika) spices
- Pomegranate seeds for sweetening
Watch the video here:
Step 1
Peel and chop cassava – take your time! Rinse it when you are done and chop into pieces.
Blend in a blender until chunky and place in a bowl.
Step 2
Wash all your vegetables. Slice and dice peppers and add them to the cassava bowl.
Using the olive oil or the oil from the sundried tomatoes, heat a pan on a high heat and fry the garlic cloves whole. Add the shallots, onions and ginger. Then add your mixed spices and aromat with a pinch of salt and stir.
Step 3
Add the mixture to your cassava bowl and put back in the blender with the sundried tomatoes. Blend again until smooth. Place the mixture into a bowl, add the cornflour and mix in well. Using your creativity, start shaping the mixture in your favourite way – you can make them like a beef burger shape or into meatballs. Whatever makes you feel good!
Step 4
Get a nice deep round pan and add enough olive oil to deep fry. Turn to a high heat. You can use a deep fryer but I prefer to fry them in the pan.
Once fried, get a kitchen paper towel and place on a plate. Drain the fritters on this. And now it’s time to eat!
