Ceremonial Sauce · Cowpea & Simsim
Dek Ngor
Photo: Pamela Ayot / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
'Dek' means relish or sauce in Acholi and 'ngor' means cowpeas, so the name simply means cowpea sauce; pigeon peas, called lapena, go into a different dish.
Dek ngor mashes boiled cowpeas with a mingling stick until creamy, then stirs in simsim paste or peanut butter to make a rich, nutty sauce eaten with kwon kal or rice.
Why it's made this way: The dish carries ceremonial weight among the Acholi, served at marriages, baptisms, family reunions and naming ceremonies, while also appearing on everyday restaurant menus in Gulu.
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