RECIPE: Enjoy Katogo-byenda for breakfast

Katogo a dish where a staple is cooked in the same pot with a sauce, is popular in all regions of Uganda. The staple is usually matooke, Irish potatoes, cassava or sweet potatoes, while the sauce meat or vegetables – beans, peas, groundnuts or greens.

In this recipe the staple is matooke and the sauce byenda. The culinary term for byenda is tripe and sweetbreads – the inner lining of the stomach and the thymus gland of the pancreas respectively. Byenda is often called “offal,” this however, is the general term for the parts cut off the main carcass of an animal when slaughtered for food and comprises: the brains, feet, head, heart, liver, kidney, tail, tongue, marrow bones, tripe and sweetbreads.

Tripe and sweetbreads have a rich, unique flavour and provide an inexpensive alternative to beef. It is also easily digested and thus valuable food for invalids the young and the elderly.

Ingredients
Serves 5 – 6
* 1 kg tripe & sweet breads (byenda)
* 2 kg peeled, washed matooke
* 5 big ripe tomatoes, grated
* 2 large onions,chopped
* 2 medium green pepper, chopped
* 2 large carrots, hopped
* 2 tbsp tomato paste
* 2 tbsp Royco or 1 beef stock cube
* 1 -2 chilli, finely chopped (optional)
* 1 tbsp oil, 1½ tsp salt

Method

Rinse byenda and soak in cold water for 1hr, changing water frequently.
Remove tough outer skin from sweet breads with sharp knife and any excess fat, veins etc from tripe.

Wash thoroughly and cut into bite-size pieces.
Boil in one half litter water with salt for 20 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer for about 40 minutes, or until tender.

Remove byenda from soup and heat the oil in separate pan. Fry onions, green pepper, carrots and byenda stirring frequently. Add tomato paste and keep stirring until the colour darkens.

Dissolve Royco in a little cold water or the crumbled beef cube in a little hot soup and pour into tomato paste mixture with grated tomatoes and the chilli, if used.
Cover pan and simmer until tomatoes are cooked. Gradually add in the soup and bring to the boil. Correct seasoning.

Pour over matooke, cover pan and cook on high heat for 10 minutes.
Reduce to low and simmer until matooke is ready. Serve with greens and fruit juice.