Ntsambu are a special
occasion meal - This produce cannot be found outiside Comoros except
when travellers bring some kilograms back home in their luggage
| Ntsambu
is a typically
comorian starchy bean which caused a war between sultanates
of Washili and Hamahame. when inhabitants of Hamahame went into Washili
to steal ntsambu. Preparing ntsambu requires
a special skill for which Washili people are renowned. |

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Crop
the fruits when young, break the shell, and split the nut in two halves.
Let them dry into the sun during two days.
Wrap the nuts in banana
tree leaves, and burry them during 5 days to allow them to fermentate,
covering them with banana wood.
Take them off, wash them,
and boil the nuts for two hours to remove the bad smell from fermentation.
Cut them in small pieces,
and boil them again into a large saucepan with coconut extract (milk) and
grilled fish pieces (never with meat).
Recipe extracted and adapted from
"La Cuisine dans les cérémonies coutumières
comoriennes"
by Dossar Bacar Nadia, end of school thesis, ENES, Mvouni, 1986 |

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