If it is your first time coming to Kenya and you are wondering what you can eat, worry no more because we have prepared a list of the most popular foods among the tribes in Kenya. We promise you the most exciting experience in the beautiful country with friendly people and breath-taking scenery. Thereafter visit any eating joint or hotel and you will not miss most of the below types of food.
- Ugali
This is the most common staple starch in Kenyan homes and hotels.it is a mixture of maize flour (corn meal), millet flour or sorghum flour cooked in boiling water until it makes a firm dough-like solid. Kenyans know the ugali is well cooked if when they throw it on a wall it falls off! You can also tell from its aroma that catches your nose from far. Ugali is served with vegetable or stew of any kind.
- Githeri
Githeri is the simplest yet very delicious dish in Kenya. It is a mixture of maize (corn kernels) and beans boiled and possibly fried in sautéed onions. Its taste is highly boosted by adding salt and spices like pepper, chillies or coriander leaves.
- Pilau
This is another favourite recipe in Kenya. It is cooked with rice mixed with beef, chicken mutton or soya. Beef pilau is the most popular in Kenyan homes and hotels. Pilau is loved for its bursting flavours as a result of a mixture of spices such as onions, garlic, ginger, salt, pilau masala and tomatoes.you will enjoy when you serve pilau with ‘kachumbari’, vegetable or stew.
- Kachumbari
This is not food as such but Kenyan’s favourite salad usually served alongside the main meals.it is a mixture of sliced onions, sliced fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, diced avocadoes, red pepper, a pinch of salt with a squeeze of lime juice
- Biryani
This is also another popular dish in the country. It is a mixture of spices, rice and meat. The meat can be beef, mutton, chicken, prawn or fish. Its recipe is almost same as that of pilau but biryani has eggs added.
- Nyama Choma
This is the Kiswahili version of roasted meat. The meat could be goat, chicken or beef. It tops the list of the popular food in Kenya. Any social event or gathering cannot be fulfilling without nyama choma. From the finest restaurants to roadside shacks, roast goat meat is served up as a kind of social lubricant.it is usually served with ugali and accompanied with kachumbari. You will also find people indulging in beer and nyama choma by side.
- Chapati
Kenyan style chapatis are made from whole wheat flour dough that is wound into a coil before being rolled into a flat round circle by using a special rolling board. The dough is then fried on a skillet accompanied by plenty of oil so it becomes crispy on the edges but remains moist and doughy in the middle. Chapatis can be considered more of a special form of Kenyan food, a treat to eat mostly during special occasions. Chapatis go well with stew, fried cabbage, beans, or even just rolled up with a cup of tea!
- Matoke
Matoke is another delicious and affordable staple food in Kenya. Bananas are harvested green, carefully peeled and cooked. Coriander leaves and green pepper are used as spices and the matoke can be served with meat or vegetables. Other people just boil the green bananas and eat them plain, it is highly nutritious.
- Mukimo
Mukimo is a popular dish mainly for the kikuyu community of Kenya.it is made from mashed potatoes mixed with boiled maize, beans or peas and pumkin leaves. It is then served with meat stew and vegetable.
- Sukuma Wiki
This is the Swahili version of collard greens.it is given the literal meaning of ‘push or stretch the week ‘by Kenyans.It is actually the top most popular dish in the country which is served alongside ugali and meat. Sukuma wiki is rich in roughage, iron and calcium.
- Managu.
This is an indigenous green vegetable known as African Night shade in English. It is preferred because of its healthy rich nutrients (roughage, iron and calcium) as most people are quickly turning away from junk and processed foods. It is served to replace sukuma wiki with ugali and meat. Depending on the type of locals, milk cream can be added to the managu to make it less bitter and delicious.
- Sagaa or Saget
Sagaa or saget is another popular traditional vegetable known as spider plant in English.it is mostly grown in Kisii, Nyamira, Kisumu and Kalenjin areas of Kenya .It serves as an accompaniment for ugali and stew.
- Therere
Therere is a local vegetable known as amaranth in English.it is readily available in the Kenyan gardens especially when there is rain. The vegetable is highly nutritious and is loved by many served with ugali and meat as well.Therere is very delicious when whipped with cream.
- Mursik
Mursik is traditional fermented milk mainly favourite for the Kalenjin people of Kenya. It is made from cow or goat milk fermented in a special gourd locally known as sotet. The gourd is then lined with soot from a specific burned tree to add flavour and give greyish colour to the fermented milk. Mursik is normally consumed with ugali and vegetables or on its own. It can be served at normal temperature or chilled. Other tribes have fallen in love with this milk and you will not miss it in many hotels in Kenya.
- Mutura
Mutura is a traditional Kenyan sausage in other words. It is a favourite snack especially for the beer drinkers and is usually found outside bar joints and roadside butcheries. It is literally ground or minced meat parts (goat or beef) mixed with goat blood and stuffed in the intestines to form a sausage like roll. The mixture could be spiced up adding ginger, garlic or chillies.it is then boiled till it’s almost cooked through and grilled in order to dehydrate the meat. The smoky taste of mutura makes people even school going children want to bite more and more. The exciting thing is that a small piece could go for as little as Ksh.10.
- Chips
This is made from freshly sliced potatoes deep fried to make golden crispy pieces. It is a type of fast food mostly served alongside other dishes such as grilled chicken, fish or beef stew. Most people take it with other snacks such as sausages, samosa or smokies. Tomato sauce or chillies are added to make it tasty.
- Mandazi
This is another snack popular in Kenyan homes and restaurants.it is made from wheat flour dough containing eggs, butter and raisers knead and cut to special shapes then deep fried to till golden brown. Mandazis are best served with tea for breakfast or as a snack.
- Mahindi Choma
This is simply green maize corn cobs roasted or grilled till golden brown. It is then seasoned with spices such as salt, chillies and squeezed lime juice. The hot roasted maize is then wrapped with maize husk for one to be able to hold it. Mahindi choma is mainly found on roadsides of the busy Kenyan roads or shopping centres and is a very delicious snack especially during chilly weather!
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