Let's Cook Mucapata!

The other evening, some friends from the provincial capitial of Zambezia, Quelimane, showed me how to make a dish called mucapata.  This dish is only found in Quelimane, where the Chuabo ethnic group resides. This mushy paste that looks like hummus, is one of my favorite Mozambican dishes.  This is usually eaten with grilled chicken or/and a curry dish.

Time: Approximately 2 1/2 hours

1 cup dried split peas

2 cups rice

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups coconut milk

You will need a medium-size pan with a lid.  You will also need to buy coconut milk or make your own coconut milk.

People in Mozambique tend to make coconut milk by first shaving the coconut meat using a stool that has a metal piece with sharp ridges attached to it. Then, by rigorously sliding the coconut meat over the metal piece, coconut shavings fall into a bowl. 

Next, they pour water on top of the coconut pieces and mash the shavings with their hands and the water becomes milky. Everything in the bowl is poured into a strainer. Voilà, fresh coconut milk!

After the coconut milk is ready, add the coconut milk to the pan and let it boil. Do not stop stirring, otherwise it will burn and ruin the consistency of the coconut milk.









When it starts to boil, add the lentils, rice, and salt to the mix and keep stirring until it boils.  When it boils, reduce the heat to low and cover the pot for about 5 minutes and stir again . Keep stirring and make sure that the mix is not sticking to the base of the pot. Burned mucapata is not that tasty! At some point, you may have to add about four cups of water to the pot because the rice and lentils will start absorbing the coconut milk. You may let the pot sit at times, but keep an eye on the mucapata every 5 minutes or so, and continue to stir sporadically until the consistency is thick and no longer falls off the stirrer.  

You can also enjoy it with some hot sauce if your stomach can handle it.  I made piri piri, which is a hot pepper grown here and I added lemon juice from two lemons, salt and garlic.

There you have it, amigos.  I hope you enjoy making this traditional food from central Mozambique!

The Little Things That Make My Day In Mozambique

• Turkey-watching outside of my bedroom window.
• Finding out that there are avocados at the local market.  
• Being able to watch cable TV at an ex-pat's house in my community.
• Waking up to the sound of running water.  My community sometimes goes weeks without running water.
• Receiving emails from family and friends who just want to check-in and say, "Hello."
• Hearing my students singing a song in the hallway that I had taught them in English class.
• When my basketball girls go from barely knowing how to dribble a ball to running down the entire court dribbling without looking down at the ball.
• Comments on my blog or Youtube videos.
• Taking a bucket bath outdoors at another volunteer's house and looking up to see a blinking sky full of stars.
• Closing my eyes while eating a sweet pineapple.  It's only when I open them that I remember that I'm not eating candy.
• Getting new music and movies from other volunteers
• Playing "Uno" or "Tag" with the kids in the community.
• Making food, going shopping, or getting dresses tailored with my neighbor friend, Sonia.
• Drinking Sangria on a Friday night with Sonia.
• Watching Disney cartoons in Portuguese with the kids in my neighborhood.
• Getting my hair braided outside by neighbor.  It's a great way to make new friends.
• Receiving thoughtful care packages from my parents.
• Starting my day with yoga stretches.  Namaste.
• Learning a new song to play on my ukulele, especially a revelent one that I can teach to my students.
• Making art that's therapeutic.
• Buying 10 mangoes and a pineapple for a dollar.
• Watching TV shows and movies from Brazil and being able to understand about 90% of what the actors are saying.
• By the time it's pay day at the end of the month, I still have money left over from the previous month.  Hmmm....a new blouse, maybe?