Chicken luwombo is a Ugandan delicacy which is much honored and usually prepared on very special traditional occasions but most especially traditional marriage ceremonies. We present you with a Uganda guide on how to prepare this most revered delicacy.
Ingredients
- Whole Chicken (pre-roasted)
- 2 medium sized onions
- 2 medium sized tomatoes
- I medium sized green pepper
- I big carrot
- 1 table spoon of Royco (any favorite curry powder)
- Salt to taste
- I cup of water
Other requirements
- Soft Banana fibre
- Luwombo leaf
- Medium sauce pan
- 8 Banana leaves
- Banana stem
- Knife
- Charcoal/firewood
- Charcoal stove/ cooking stone
- Wire mesh
Procedure
- Smoke the chicken on a wire mesh over charcoal until its golden brown.
(You can prepare Luwombo as a whole chicken or as pieces of chicken). Whole chicken is usually prepared during the traditional marriage ceremonies for the groom. The groom is meant to eat the whole chicken although he is usually assisted by the people who have escorted him for the visit. The pieces are served to the rest of the group.
- Prepare the Luwombo leaf. The Luwombo leaf is a fresh banana leaf which is put over fire just for a few second to make it soft so that it is easily manipulated without tearing apart.
- Position the Luwombo leaf in a large bowel and put the chicken in the Luwombo leaf.
- Chop the tomatoes, onions, green pepper, and carrot and add them into the chicken.
- Mix salt and Royco or any of your favorite curry powder in water and add the mixture into the chicken.
- Mix well the ingredients to make sure all the sides of the chicken has been covered by the mixture.
- Wrap the Luwombo leaf and fasten it firmly and neatly using a banana fiber.
- Place the Luwombo in a previously prepared steaming saucepan and cover with enough banana leaves (at least five). A steaming sauce pan is prepared by putting cut pieces of a banana stem at the bottom and then water followed by banana leaves.
- Steam the chicken Luwombo for about 1 hour to 1 and 1/2 hours; steaming is done by placing the covered saucepan on fire which can be on a charcoal stove when using charcoal or cooking stones when using firewood.
- Serve the Luwombo when still hot, The Luwombo is removed from the sauce pan and placed in a clean bowel or basket and the banana fiber is untied from the serving place.
Chicken Luwombo can be served with any staple carbohydrate which can be steamed matooke, sweat potatoes, rice, cassava or posho.
While on a Holiday in Uganda, it is highly unlikely to find this delicacy in one of the lodges you are likely to stay at however, specialized local restaurants in Kampala are able to offer this dish and it is very useful to always ask your local guide of the possibilities of where to find this dish.
Since it is a meal prepared mostly on traditional functions, it is not every day that you get to eat nice food in our cultural setting. There are a handful of restaurants that are able to offer this kind of dish and usually they have a “Luwombo” name on their name.
Note that the above procedure and ingredients only applies to Chicken Luwombo, however, there are other types of Luwombo that are prepared including; goat, beef, ground nuts, some people tend to mix ground nuts with either dried fish or meat.
Be sure to have a taste of the local dish on your Uganda safari or tour and enjoy the taste that is not like any other food, it is only you who can describe it. Depending on your preference, you might choose from a wide range of choices available to your as described previously.
