Tanzania

Menu: Tangawizi (ginger-lime soda), mishkaki and kachumber (beef skewers with cucumber salad), ndizi kaanga (plantains in ghee), and visheti (cardamom donuts) | Recipe Source: Zaynab Issa and Fau Delicious

Thoughts: I don’t even know where to start with this one, other than to say that my gut was right and Tanzanian/East African food is incredible and all five of these recipes were absolutely worth making. The tangawizi felt like a vibrant, lime-infused ginger beer (and would make the best mixer for gin); the kachumber was bright and citrusy and the perfect compliment to medium-rare steak; the mishkaki marinade was probably the best beef marinade I’ve ever had; and last but certainly not least, the visheti donuts were soft and chewy on the inside but crisp and syrupy on the outside, and the cardamom added such a fun, exotic pop.

Ready to cook?

Tangawizi (link): I used less ginger than was called for (it recommends 230 grams, I only had 195 grams and didn’t want to go back to the store).

Mishkaki and Cachumber (main link and secondary link): I used habaneros and regular cucumbers because I couldn’t find red chilis or Persian cucumbers at the store; I also used a fusion of multiple recipes for the mishkaki marinade, and added in cumin, coriander, turmeric, paprika, and fresh cilantro.

Ndizi Kaanga (link): I added a little sugar in with the salt for absolutely no good reason other than I wanted to.

Visheti (link): I halved the dough recipe because the batch looked HUGE in the video, and sure enough, even halving it made a sh*t ton of donuts. I also used shortening instead of butter, but like the ginger in the tangawizi, it was simply because I didn’t have enough butter.