When we were growing up we always made mufushwa (sun dried vegetables) for my grandparents. Both my grandparents live in the rural areas and in the dry months fresh vegetables are scarce so the dry vegetables come in handy. I do not remember ever eating mufushwa as a child except for munyevhe (which I was forced to eat by the way) largely because it is considered poor man’s food and also because my parents grew up eating mufushwa a lot that they did not want to eat it anymore. I can honestly say I started eating mufushwa after emigrating from Zimbabwe. No matter how good the food in the west looks it will never compare to the food from Africa. I guess it is the taste I am used to and a case of not knowing what you have until you lose it.
This post was inspired by the Zimbabwean ladies in the UK who grow their vegetables in the summer and have more than enough but I can imagine that during the fall and winter months these vegetables will be gone. So I thought why not make your own mufushwa rather than wait for someone to bring it for you from home. Here is how you make mufushwa:
Make sure that the day or days that you decide to do this it will be a hot and sunny day otherwise you will waste the vegetables if they get moldy before drying first. Also check the weather forecast for windy days otherwise you will end up with sandy vegetables!
I used collard greens for this recipe, but you can use kale, covo, rape, cabbage, spring greens, spider flower leaves(munyevhe), cow peas leaves(munyemba) or any other leafy green leaf.
Cut the vegetables into ribbons, the ribbons do not have to be small in width which is a good thing if working with a big bunch. You can add chopped tomatoes and onions but these are purely optional.
Add the vegetables to boiling water until the vegetables are wilted down.
Drain the water and spread either in a tray, on newspaper or plastic sackcloth. Place in a place that is sunny and leave to dry, you may also want to check for shadows throughout the day.
I did not check the forecast like I mentioned earlier so it took two days for the vegetables to dry. I guess an alternative is put in the oven at the lowest temperature but I think it would kill all the vitamins because you will have to cook the vegetables again.
Pack the dry vegetables in Ziploc bag or just a regular plastic bag or container. I use what I have, I would not go to buy a packet of Ziploc bags that I would just use once.
Bermuda is very humid so I put all my dry grains and vegetables in the fridge otherwise they would get moldy really fast. Next week I will post how I actually cook mufushwa as part of a meal.