Ibihaza — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

Chunks of pumpkin slow-cooked with onions, tomatoes, and gentle spicing until tender and naturally sweet, a comforting Rwandan classic.

Ingredients

1 Heat oil in a large pot and sauté diced onions for five minutes until softened and translucent.
2 Add chopped tomatoes and cook for three minutes until they break down into a sauce.
3 Add pumpkin cubes, water, salt, and pepper. Stir gently to coat pumpkin in the sauce.
4 Cover and simmer on low heat for twenty-five minutes, stirring occasionally, until pumpkin is fork-tender but still holds its shape.
5 Mash some pieces against the pot wall to thicken the sauce while leaving other chunks intact. Serve hot with ugali.

Did You Know?

Rwandan pumpkins are often grown alongside beans and corn in traditional three-crop companion planting called intercropping.