Madagascar: kabaro au curry

Madagascar, a large island country of the eastern coast of Africa, is maybe most famous for peculiar wildlife with lemurs and giant spiky forests ​​[1]​​. This uniqueness stems from the island’s relative isolation – there has been very little migration of plants and animals from mainland Africa.

Mirroring the low migration of plants and animals, the island was first settled some 500 years BCE (quite late) by peoples arriving in canoes from Indonesia, bringing crops and culinary traditions with them. Some thousand years later, these people were joined by settlers from the African mainland ​[2]​.

Malagasy cuisine

Continous trade with South Asia has influenced the Malagasy kitchen. East African stews are mixed with spices like cumin, cardamom, chili and cinnamon ​[3], [4]​. I also found references to using vanilla in savory dishes but I did not manage to find a recipe ​[3], [4]​.

Rice is a very important staple and often eaten two-three times a day ​[5]​. Vegetables are a common sight and include onion, tomato, and lots of leafy greens like cassava leaves, watercress, and mustard greens.

Dishes served along with rice are called laoka (usually some sauce or stew). Side dishes, called lasary, are common and many seem to fill the role of side salads in European cuisines. Achards, similar to Southasian pickles, made from fermented lemons or mango are often eaten alongside meals. Besides rice, there a lot of different variations of fried doughs (both sweet and savory) called mofo ​[6]–[9]​ and tubers like yam, taro, and cassava.

The national dish, romazava, is a beef stew with green leaves (e.g. cassava leaves) and paracress ​[10], [11]​. Paracress is an interesting plant with mouth-numbing effects, causing tingling and cooling sensations ​[11], [12]​. The flower buds are also called buzz buttons, tingflowers, and electric daisy.

Kabaro au Curry

For our visit to Madagascar, I chose to make kabaro au curry ​[13], [14]​, curried lima beans served with rice, and a lasary made from curried vegetables in a vinaigrette ​[15], [16]​. A simple dish but flavourful and filling. Warm, curried vegetables with lemon juice and vinegar sounded very intriguing.

Curry powder

One issue I seem to be encountering time and time again trying to make dishes from to me new countries is that so many recipes just say to use curry powder. The issue is that curry powder is an unspecified blend of spices, often based on the local cuisine. Malagasy curry powder is not the same as Trinidadian curry powder or Indian curry (none of which are formalized either for that matter – everyone has their own recipe). A big part of making a dish from a country I’ve never visited is to get the spices right and without recipes, there is no real way of knowing.

For the kabaro au curry and the lasary, I had to invent my own blend. In the end, the only recipe I could find where spices were named was a Madagascar beef curry recipe from an Australian grocery store ​[17]​. I also saw suggestions of using curry madras, Indonesian curry powder or Malawi spice blends. All of those make sense, seeing as all those countries have or have had influence in the Malagasy cuisine. In the end, I don’t know if the spices I chose are the correct ones but the dish turned out well.

Conclusion

The kabary au curry turned out very taste thanks to the large amounts of spices but what really lifted this meal was the lasary, the curried vinegar vegetables. Their contrast in acidity and texture really helped balance the rice and beans.

Print

Kabaro au Curry

This is a filling Malagasy dish of curried lima beans in tomato sauce.

Course Main Course

Cuisine east africa, madagascar, malagasy

Keyword curry, lima beans

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 hours hours

Soaking 8 hours hours

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 large can whole tomatoes 800 mL
• 1-2 tsp salt
• 350 g lima beans, dried soaked 8+ h
• oil

Curry powder

• 3 tsp coriander, ground
• 2 tsp cumin, ground
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• ½ tsp cardamom, ground
• 2 tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp chili, ground
• 4 allspice berries, whole
• ½ tsp cinnamon

Instructions

• Sweat onion in some oil in a large pot.
• Add garlic, stir until fragrant.
• Stir in curry spices, either one by one or mix all in a bowl.
• Add whole tomatoes with jucie. Divide and crush the tomaotes into coarse pieces using your spoon.
• Add salt, beans and ~750 mL water. Bring to a simmer.
• Let simmer with lid until beans are ready, 1-2 h.
• When the beans are tender, crush a fwe with your spoon to amke a thicker sauce.
• Serve with rice and curried vegetables.