Omushenye, simsim and milk

Material: beans, sweet potatoes, milk, simsim (sesame seeds), firewood, salt and water

Prepare beans, wash them, put them in a clean sufuria (bowl), put enough water, then light fire and put on sufuria. Let it take 2 hours, then put in sweet potatoes, which have been chopped and washed properly. It will take 1 hour to be ready, then cook it the way you cook ugali almost 1 hour. Then it will be ready to eat. We call it Omushenye in our language.

Prepare simsim, wash them properly, put them in a clean sufuria and put it on fire to make them dry. After that put them in a container called Eshinu in our language and start mixing by using a heavy stick until it becomes soft like heavy porridge. Therefore take clean cups and put in milk. The food now is ready to eat. This food is carrying nutrients, energy and vitamins to make body healthy and strong. In our culture this food is prepared in special occations. During the time we cooked it at school, pupils and teachers were happy, because it is a respectful food.

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Luhya traditional food in Kenya

Omushenye:

Omushenye (a mixture of boiled beans and boiled sweet potatoes) is a luhya traditional food which is liked by most of the families because of being nutritious. In it, it comprises of proteins, carbohydrates vitamins and calcium that makes the body healty and strong. Proteins help the body by building up worn out cells and tissues. Carbohydrates help the body by adding energy that makes body strong. Vitamins protect the body against various diseases like rickets, scuvy, kwarshioko, marasmus.

How omushenye is prepared

Either dried or fresh beans are boiled/cooked to be soft to the chew. Fresh clean sweet potatoes are cut in pieces and added to the already boiling beans so as to boil together and from one mixture which will be mached to be called omushenye. Salt is added at the earlier stage before the end of the boiling. It can be left to cool then served with fish, meat, chicken stew.

Omunyobo:

Omunyobo (fine mashed roasted monkey nuts) is a luhya traditional food that is favoured by many people for it is noutritious and boosts body growth and development. Protenous content is high which helps in repairing the worn out cells and tissues. Omunyobo also contains calcium that builds up bone formation and development and also helps gums and teeth to be firm and strong enough. It contains fats that make the body skin to be moist, smooth to touch.

How to prepare Omunyobo

Omunyobo is prepared bu roasting dry monkey nuts. It is the mashed that it becomes fine and smooth to touch. The fat content in it makes omunyobo to be moist and fine. Omunyobo can be eaten with other solid foods like mashed bananas, sweet potatoes, yams, cassavas or irish potatoes, chips and chapatis.

Amabere amasatse:

Amabere amasatse (sour milk) contains microorganisms that protect the body against different diseases. The proteinous content in the milk builds up the body to be healthy.

How it is prepared

Fresh milk is kept in a guard for some days (can be 3-5 days) according to ones taste. The guard is shaken smoothly on the things to make up a heavy fine mixture. Other fresh milk can be added little by little depending on how one wants the level of sourness to be. One can drink with other solid food like sweet potatoes, cassavas, ugali, bananas, yams or chips. These food can be eaten as lunch or supper, for it is sweet and leaves one satisfied for long time.

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Making omushenye in Mungan’ga Secondary School

This is how we prepared food:

We had beans, sweet potatoes, mashed simsim (sesame seeds). We started to boil beans almost 1 hour, after that you put there sweet potatoes, then you mash together like ugali (maize meal in Kenya). After that you try simsim and mash. This is food in our language called Omushenye.

This food is carrying out nutrition and makes the body to be strong. This is the traditional food and also food for our visitors which is carrying carbohydrates and fats.

It is the best nutritional food in our culture in Africa.

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