Nhopi

My mother exposed to us to a lot of our traditional food. She always chose a recipes that were easiest for large number of people, we always had other people living with us. The recipe of choice for most vegetables and nuts is just boiling them. Of course how much water you use for each vegetable is different but anyone can do it. When we switch it up, it usually means peanut buter is added one way or another. As is with nhopi.

Nhopi is a porridge like dish made mainly with pumpkin, shamba/winter squash, mealie meal, and peanut butter. Depending on the sweetness of the pumpkin, it can be a sweet dish but it is not eaten as a dessert. Sometimes people add sugar to it if the pumpkin is not sweet enough. My grandmother serves it for lunch with some vegetables like rape, or spinach. I like to eat it as a dessert.

My recipe is technically not the traditional nhopi because I only use pumpkin, peanut butter and some spices. It is a lot lighter and I like the flavours that I get from cinnamon and ginger.

To make nhopi, you simply boil cubed pumpkin or butternut squash. Add peanut butter and the spices and mash it all together. Leave it to simmer and its ready to eat.

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Recipe : Nhopi

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 4

Author Princess Tafadzwa

Ingredients

• 1 pound butternut squash / pumpkin cubed
• 1 tablespoon peanut butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger

Instructions

1. Bring to boil the squash or pumpkin in a cup of water until it becomes fork tender.
2. Do not throw away the water, add the peanut butter, salt, ginger and cinnamon. Reduce heat to low and cover the saucepan for about 3 minutes to allow the peanut butter to be cooked.
3. Mash the the squash or pumpkin to a smooth consistency. I like to use the traditional whisk for this stage,
4. Simmer for about five more minutes and serve hot.

Nothing is set in stone for this recipe if you want more peanut butter you can add more and sometimes people add sugar to it if the squash or pumpkin is not sweet enough. Let me know if you make it and if you liked it.