Main
Isombe (cassava leaves with eggplant and palm oil)
- Preparation time
- 1 h 30
- Servings
- 4 servings
Ingredients
- Feuilles de manioc pilées — to buy500 g (pounded, thawed)
- Eggplant — to buy2
- Palm oil — to buy3 tbsp
- Onion — to buy1
- Garlic — to buy2 cloves
- Poisson fumé — to buy100 g
- Salt — to buy1 pinch
Preparation
If using frozen pounded cassava leaves, let them thaw completely and squeeze out the excess water with your hands.
Peel the eggplants and cut them into small 1 cm cubes — they'll break down and give the sauce its silky texture.
Finely slice the onion and chop the garlic, then sauté them for 3 minutes in the hot palm oil in a pot, until the onion turns translucent and the oil takes on an orange tint.
Add the pounded cassava leaves and diced eggplant, stirring to coat everything in oil.
Crumble the smoked fish over the mixture, pour in a glass of water, season lightly with salt (the smoked fish is already salty), and cover.
Simmer over low heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding a splash of water if it starts to catch: the leaves should turn tender and the eggplant completely break down.
Uncover for the last 10 minutes to let the liquid reduce into a thick, silky sauce, almost a dark green purée.
Serve hot with ubugali or plain rice.