Zimbabwean Food: 17 Popular and Traditional Dishes to Try
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Loading... - Susan Rono
- 01 Aug 2022
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Fresh ingredients, exotic meats, and indigenous recipes all define Zimbabwean food, some of the most unique and fascinating dishes in Africa.
Zimbabwean cooking and many techniques date back thousands of years, with some still used to this day.
Zimbabweans are passionate and resourceful in their approach to food, maximizing flavor from even the simplest of ingredients.
So prepare to be wowed as we take a trip to the heart of Africa with a local writer, and look at 17 traditional and popular dishes that define this beautiful country.
Traditional and Popular Zimbabwean Foods To Try
Zimbabwean Mains
1 – Maizemeal – Sadza/Itshwala
Maizemeal is one of the most common and popular Zimbabwean foods. Sadza is a carbohydrate staple, eaten in many homes across the country.
It is eaten with a variety of stews and relishes such as collard greens, beef, chicken, or pork stews, and even Mopani worms.
It is commonly made from maize meal. However, it can also be made from a variety of grains such as sorghum and millet.
Sadza is made by mixing the maize meal with hot water, simmering it until it thickens, then adding more to form a thick paste. You generally eat it with your hands rather than using utensils.
2 – Porridge – Bota/Iyambazi
A diluted form of maize meal, sorghum, or millet sadza is called Bota. It is made by adding hot water to the maize meal and letting it simmer for 30 minutes until it thickens.
It can be flavored with peanut butter, margarine, salt, and sugar. Elevated versions of this meal involve the use of fresh cream.
Bota is traditionally seen as a children’s meal, although adults can enjoy it too.
It is commonly served as the very first meal of the day. This is to help fuel people who head out to the fields in rural areas, with breakfast coming later on.
3 – Yellow Watermelon with Sun-Dried Maize – Umxhanxa
A traditionally Ndebele dish, Umxhanxa does not have a Shona name and is mostly eaten by the Ndebele and Kalanga people.
It is a seasonal dish often served in winter after harvest time. It is often eaten for lunch.
Umxhanxa is made by taking a yellow watermelon, known as iJodo, sun-dried maize, and sugar.
The maize is boiled with water until the hard grains soften, which usually takes up to two and a half hours.
The yellow watermelon is skinned and sliced, and all the seeds are removed. Then, it’s boiled for 30 minutes. It is then beaten, and the iJodo and maize are combined with sugar. Read More…
