Dinnertime with African Impact

Many who come to volunteer on our projects spend their last few hours writing down our cook Nonhlanhla's best recipes. Most are surprised at how Nonhlanhla is able to create dish after dish of mouth-watering food each day and want to take a little bit of her wholesome cooking home with them.

Many of our cook's recipes are derived from well-known African dishes, with some wholesome South African meals thrown into the mix along with the occasional cottage pie, pasta dish or lasagna.

Because these meals are so popular, we've decided to give you the recipe for one in particular - Chakalaka!

Chakalaka is a spicy South African vegetable relish traditionally served with bread, pap, stews or curries. At our dinners, we eat Chakalaka typically over pap or rice, and sometimes even on a baked potato if there are leftovers the next day.

Thought to have originated from the townships of Johannesburg, there are many variations on how to make Chakalaka, normally depending on region and family tradition, as well as the palate of the diners. Many versions include beans, tomatoes, onion, garlic and curry paste. 

Chakalaka is a quick and easy meal to make - not to mention delicious! 

Here is a recipe for basic Chakalaka: 

Ingredients:

3 medium onions, diced

3 medium carrots, diced

2 medium green bell peppers, diced

3 medium tomatoes, diced

curry powder, to your taste

salt, to taste

1 vegetable bouillon cube

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 - 2 tablespoons of oil for frying

1/4 cup of water

Directions:

1. Fry the onion and pepper together with oil in a large skillet until the onions are clear.

2. Add the grated carrots tomatoes, water and all the seasonings to your liking and cook for about 15-20 minutes. 

You can find more recipes for Chakalaka here, here or here.