Malewa Bowl · Beans & Greens

Tshaka Madesu (Beans & Cassava Leaf Stew)

Photo: OussamaHamama / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Instead of serving beans and cassava leaves as two separate sides, Kinshasa cooks simmer them down together in one pot, so every spoonful carries both.

Red kidney beans are boiled until soft, then finished in the same pot as pounded cassava leaves, palm oil and seasoning, producing a hearty, two-in-one stew. It's one of the cheapest full plates at Kinshasa's malewa canteens, ladled hot over rice or fufu.

Why it's made this way: Combining protein-rich beans with leafy greens in a single bowl let malewa cooks — often housewives selling extra portions of the family meal — offer a nutritionally complete plate at the lowest possible price, which is why it remains a lunchtime fixture for the city's working class.

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Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries. Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below. Photo credits.