Foods Of Kenya: Popular Kenyan Meals
If you are visiting Kenya there are several Kenyan delicacies you can try out. Kenyan meals stand out for their deliciousness and nutrition content. Kenyans enjoy quite a number of meals and visiting any common Kenyan home you will be served with these local dishes.
For Kenyans looking to add more local meals on their menu, we shall cover quite a variety of meals that you can add on your menu.
Most Kenyans greatly enjoy their meals but what makes them stand out is how they are prepared. From frying to roasting and boiling, these are just some of the ways Kenyans prepare their meals.
With the Kenyan Ugali (made from Maize flour) as stable food, there are quite a number of dishes that can be served with it.
Whether you are looking for breakfast, lunch or dinner here are some of the popular Kenyan meals recipes you can go for.
Popular Kenyan Meals
- Sweet beans with Chapati
- Chapati with beef stew
- Githeri
- Tea with Mandazi
- White rice with lentils
- Pasta with beef stew
- Potatoes and green peas.
- Ugali With Sukuma Wiki
- Chicken Biryani
- Kuku wa Kupaka
- Chicken Tikka Masala
- Nyama choma
- Local Beef Stew
- Pilau
- Fried Fish
- Matoke with matumbo
- Ugali, vegetables and eggs.
- Rice with liver stew
- Omena with Ugali
With this and many more dishes you can choose from, it is good to plan your daily breakfast, lunch and supper timetable for the whole week. Planning your daily menu for the whole week in advance eliminates confusions associated with deciding on what to eat. It also helps you plan a well-balanced diet for the week in advance.
Having a balanced diet does not necessarily mean you break the bank. With the locally available foods staffs to choose from, you can come up with your weekly menu as follows.
A Sample of a Planned Daily Meals Menu For the whole week
Monday Menu
- Breakfast: Tea or coffee with toasted bread
- Lunch: Ugali, vegetables and eggs
- Dinner: Sweet maharagwe with Chapati
Tuesday Menu
- Breakfast: Tea with yams (nduma) or cassava or with boiled maize
- Lunch: White rice with beans OR spaghetti with meat stew.
- Dinner: Ugali Vegetables with Mala
Wednesday Menu
- Breakfast: Tea or porridge or milk with sweet potatoes.
- Lunch: Githeri with mashed potatoes and cabbage
- Dinner: Ugali with Nyama choma and vegetables
Thursday Menu
- Breakfast: Tea with mandazi
- Lunch: Rice with liver
- Dinner: Chapati with lentils or green grams
Friday Menu
- Breakfast: Tea and pancakes OR with sausages, scones.
- Lunch: Pilau
- Dinner: Local Beef Stew
Saturday Menu
- Breakfast: Tea with fried eggs and bread
- Lunch: Githeri mixed with potatoes and Cabbage
- Fried fish with vegetables
Sunday
- Breakfast: Tea or coffee with mandazi or sausage.
- Lunch: Pilau
- Dinner: Nyama Choma with vegetables and Kachumbari
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This can be your ideal menu for the whole week. It is always advisable to include fruits before meals. You can always replace one meal with a different one as long as the meal will provide the same nutritional content.
Vocabularies Explained
Kachumbari : Kachumbari is a refreshing salad made of fresh tomatoes, onions, green chillies, coriander, a few drops of lemon juice, and salt as desired. It’s a great dish when combined with grilled meats.
Pilau: Pilau is one a popular Kenyan dish as well. It is served at almost all social gatherings. It is rice cooked in a flavored broth with meat, chicken, or vegetables. I love this food because of the various spices used, and it’s incredibly flavorful.
Githeri: Githeri is a hearty bean stew adopted from the Kikuyu tribe, and popular amongst locals. Cooked on the street in large aluminum pots over jikos, a combination of beans, maize, beef stock and potatoes.
Chicken Biryani: A blend of subtle Persian and Indian spicing, chicken biryani is one of the most difficult rice dishes to master. Originating from the Middle East, this dish has found its own virtuous variations in East Africa at the hands of the early Arab and Indian traders on the Southern coastline.
Mandazi: This is a sweet, sugar-coated doughnut most often savored at early-morning school breaks.
Ugali: Ugali is made of coarse, white, maize meal, mixed with hot water and stirred over a coal fire until a cake forms. This hearty dish is accompanied by various meals.
Nyama Choma: Nyama choma is roasted meat, and it’s one of Kenya’s most beloved dishes. It is usually served with kachumbari salad and ugali. You eat it with your hands. Only salt and pepper are used to season this dish.
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