Burundi: Red Bean & Plantain Stew and Mustard Carrots

Red bean and plantain stew served over rice, with mustardy carrots.

After last weeks disaster, I’m happy to report that Burundi was a success!! Burundi is a small East Central African country in the Great Rift Valley. Coffee and tea make up 90% of their exports, so if the country sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because you’ve seen it on a bag of coffee beans. The Burundian diet consists mainly of beans, bananas/plantains, sweet potatoes, corn and cassava and rarely includes meat, although they do enjoy the occasional fish dish. (I’m a poet and didn’t know it!)

For the main dish, I made a red bean and plantain stew. I couldn’t find the actual name of it but kept seeing the dish pop up. I think it’s pretty similar to their ibiharage stew, which has kidney beans, onions and peppers, but this stew has plantains added! This was such a savory, filling stew, flavored with cinnamon, paprika, cumin and chili, then topped with cilantro. I would definitely make this again, although I’d probably choose riper plantains to give it a slightly sweeter taste.

As a side, I made a yummy spicy mustard carrot dish. I kept seeing mentions of this dish in my googling, but couldn’t find anything with exact ingredients for this dish so I made my own interpretation of the dish, including spices that are common in the region.

Spicy Mustard Carrots

-1 tbsp EVOO

-4 cloves garlic, chopped

-2 tsp paprika

-2 tsp cumin

-2 tsp coriander

-1 tbsp mustard powder

-1 cup water

-1 lemon (juice and zest)

-1/4 tsp salt

-5 medium size carrots, chopped or sliced

-1/2 tsp chili seeds (or more, if you like spicy!)

-2 tbsp honey

-1/2 cup chopped parsley

1.) Heat oil in nonstick pan, over low heat. Add garlic, paprika, cumin, coriander and mustard powder and cook for about 30 seconds, or until fragrant.

2.) Add water, juice from 1 lemon and salt. Bring to low boil, then turn down to low and simmer for 10 min, while stirring intermittently.

3.) Add carrots, cover and cook at low heat until slightly tender (around 5 min).

4.) Add chili seeds and honey and cook for 1 more min. Stir in parsley and lemon zest and serve hot.

I really loved both of these dishes! The warm, savory and filling stew paired really well with these fresh, spicy/sweet carrots.