Plantain/ Matooke Recipes in Uganda

Plantain: The plantain is a crop from the genus Musa. Its fruits are edible, and are generally used for cooking. This is different from the soft and sweet banana (which is often called dessert banana). Dessert bananas are more common to import in countries in the European Union or the United States.

The way certain species are called often show how they are used: cooking plantain, banana plantain, beer banana, bocadillo plantain (the little one), etc.

Plantains are often firmer than dessert bananas; they also have less sugar. Dessert bananas are often eaten raw; plantains are usually cooked or otherwise processed before they are eaten. Plantains are a staple food in tropical regions, treated similarly to potatoes. They also have a similar taste.

Matoke: also known as Matooke or Ibitoke (in Rwanda), is a variety of starchy banana, commonly referred to as cooking bananas. The fruit is harvested green and then cooked and often mashed or pounded into a meal. In Uganda it is steam-cooked and the mashed meal is one of the national dishes of the country.

The medium-sized green fruits, which are of a specific group of banana, the East African Highland bananas (AAA-EAH),are locally known as matoke. Bananas/plantains were a common staple crop around the Lake Victoria region of Uganda, and in the West and Kilimanjaro regions of Tanzania.

Plantain Recipes Common in Uganda

a) Bananas (Matooke)
i) Steamed Matooke ( Emmere enyigge eyo mundagala)

ii) Katoogo: Matooke cooked with:-
a) Matooke + Meat (Goat/Beef/Lamb)
b) Matooke + offals (Goat/Beef/Lamb)
c) Matooke +Vegetables (e.g Entula,Ddodo,Bugga)+ Ghee (Omzigo omuganda)
d) Matooke + Ground nuts ( Ebinyeebwa)
e) Matooke + Fresh or Dry Beans+Ghee
f) Matooke +Silver Fish (Mukene)

iii) Matooke cooked with peelings (Empogola)
The Cultural symbol: Is that you’re recognizing the birth of many twins in the lineage. The advise is that if you have twins in the family you put on the food Empogola.

iv) Matooke roasted with Peels in Hot Ash

b) Gonja:
i) Gonja Steamed
ii) Katoogo: Matooke +Gonja+ Meat or Offals or Vegetables + Ghee
iii) Roasted/Grilled Gonja on: (a) Firewood, (b)Charcoal (c)Hot ash (d) Grill/Oven
iv) Deep fried Gonja

c) Kivuvu:
i) Kivuvu Steamed
ii) Kivuvu Deep Fried
iii) Kivuvu Grilled
iv) Katoogo: Kivuvu +Fresh or Dry Beans+Ghee

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