Burundian Recipes

5 recipes

Burundian cooking is simple, home-based and built on what grows in the highlands. Beans are the staple, eaten daily with cooked plantain, cassava, sweet potato, maize or rice, and the national dish is ibiharage, red beans fried with onion and palm oil. Bananas and plantains are everywhere, boiled, fried or cooked into stews. Lake Tanganyika provides fish such as mukeke and the tiny ndagala, which are grilled, fried or cooked in tomato and onion. Meat is a luxury, and goat is the most common when it is eaten. Pili pili, a fresh hot sauce of chili, lemon and garlic, goes on the table with most meals. Doughnuts called amandazi are eaten with tea, and fresh pineapple and bananas are the usual dessert. Coffee and tea are major crops and are drunk sweet. Meals are eaten at home, from shared dishes, and are plain on purpose, with flavor from onion, garlic, chili and palm oil.