I don’t have a lot of good things to say about nyemba or munyemba.
Perhaps because as a legume I have always associated them with being broke. Something you reach out for because you have run out of your regulars. My father will not eat cow pea leaves even if it is his mother who made them. I have written recipes about nyemba previously but now I feel like I want to do more. I am probably not making sense right now.
One of the things I have picked up in Bermuda is rice with legumes. I love that it is a great way to bulk up grains, especially in a year when Zimbabwe is faced with a drought and food will be scarce.
This recipe has a lot of “extras” which may not be easily accessible, my rule is to use what is available at the particular time. If in Harare you can find all spice berries at Zimspice at the Belvedere shops and I don’t remember where I found scotch bonnet peppers so you can use piri piri peppers or skip them altogether.
Rice and Nyemba (Cowpeas)
Ingredients
- 1 cup nyemba(cow peas)
- 4 cups water
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 2 scallions finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 5 allspice berries
- 5 thyme sprigs
- 1 Scotch bonnet pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- Kosher salt Black pepper
- 2 cups long-grain white rice
Instructions
In a large saucepan, put all the ingredients in the saucepan and bring to a boil over moderately high heat. Adjust the heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer over low heat until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 30 minutes.
Remove from the heat and let steam for 10 minutes, then discard the thyme stems, allspice berries and Scotch bonnet. Using a fork, fluff the rice and nyemba and season with salt. Serve hot.
