Food is another important componente of Angolan culture, so we will share a new Angolan recipe every month in this section. We are aware that it’s not always possible to find the exact same ingredients all over the world, so for those ingredients that may be a little more difficult to find we’ll try to put some possible alternatives. We hope you try these recipes at home and we’d love to hear/see the results: you can use the #joinangola hashtag when posting pictures of your Angolan dishes!

FUNJI

If you want to learn Angola’s cuisine, you have to begin with funji! Funji represents the very base of the Angolan gastronomic tradition. It accompanies most dishes, such as beef stew, beans, calulu, galinha rija de muamba, among others. The grilled dishes are usually accompanied by steamed rice, while the dishes that carry a sauce are always accompanied with funji. The choice between white or yellow corn flour, manioc flour or mixed flour, is a matter of region besides preference, but also depends on the accompanying dish.   

 

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Type of dish: vegetarian – accompanying dish

 

 

 

A spoonful of funji
A spoonful of funji

INGREDIENTS

  • White corn/yellow corn /manioc flour or mixed flour

  • Water

PREPARATION

White/yellow corn flour funji

Add a pot of water on the fire (1/5 lt of water per 1 person), when it is warm add a handful of flour,

spreading it in the pot. Keep stiring the flour with the mexarico (a wooden scoop used to prepare the funji). Continue stirring for another 5 minutes until the bubbles are released during boiling. At that point you can add more flour, until it gains the texture of a consistent gruel, without bubbles! Keep stirring and whisking with the maxarico. To be sure that the funji is ready, take a spoon and dip it in the pan: if the funji stretches without falling it means that it is ready. It is usually served hot in the plate or in a bowl.

Funji in a plate
Funji in a plate

Manioc flour funji

The preparation of the manioc flour funji is similar with that of the corn flour funji. The only difference is in the initial part of the process: before adding the flour to the pot, the water has to boil well (and not simply be warm).

Mixed Funji

Same procedure as for the corn flour funji!

Now you can start practicing at home, but don’t forget to use the maxarico!

Written by: Maria Vittoria Moretti

Other Recipes