I doubt anyone who’s attended a wedding, or funeral or family gathering of any kind in Kenya will have missed out on at least one variation of this dish. It is a staple among most if not all the Kenyan Bantu communities around Mt Kenya. It can be eaten on its own as a meal or served with stews, salads and even as part of a barbeque.
The most common name for this dish among my own Gikuyu community for this dish is ‘Mûkimo’ which I believe is derived from the word gûkima which means ‘to mash.’ Don’t take my word for it though as my kikuyu is hardly world class. This dish comes with all manner variations based on the cooking method and ingredients used. The recipe version here is a close as I can come to the green mûkimo own mum cooks most regularly.
Ingredients
Because there are so many different variations of this dish, virtually ALL the ingredients are substitutable. There are three main components to this dish: the starch, the vegetable puree and githeri be can part of the dish. • 2kg Potatoes peeled and diced • 2 tablespoons vegetable puree • 2 cups githeri/muthokoi(maize boiled without the husk)/njahí (black beans)/groundnuts (depending on your choice) • Salt to taste For the puree, lightly boil or steam pretty much any green leafy vegetable from spinach, to kale, to pumpkin leaf, (my mum uses boiled stinging nettle, called thabai’ in Kikuyu), and blend till you get a smooth consistency, that can be frozen for later use.