Coastal Curry · Octopus in Coconut Sauce
Pweza wa Nazi (Octopus in Coconut Curry)
Photo: LifeinMombasa / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cooks simmer the octopus for over an hour before it ever touches the coconut sauce, since undercooked octopus turns rubbery in seconds.
Fresh octopus is simmered until tender, then finished in a spiced coconut-milk sauce with tomatoes, garlic, and curry spices. Street-side kiosks and beach food stalls in Mombasa ladle it over rice or serve it alongside ugali.
Why it's made this way: Octopus is abundant on the reefs around Mombasa, and coconut-based curries like this one reflect centuries of Swahili cooking built around the coast's twin staples: seafood and coconut.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
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