Entering research into Burundi all I knew about the country was that they have an amazing gorilla reserve where they always prioritise the animals over the hundreds of tourists that want to go and see them, I had recently seen the episode of Last Chance to See with Stephen Fry where they were searching for the White Rhino and took a detour to Burundi. When reading about the country I was shocked about its turbulent past, rocked by colonialism, wars between colonisers and several years worth of civil wars and unrest in post-colonial times. I was surprised because of the rich flora and fauna of Burundi which is not something I had naturally associated with a war torn country, but the more I thought about it I shouldn't have been surprised. Colonialism and a peaceful transition to local power rarely went hand in hand and more importantly Colombia, the country where I grew up is the second most biodiverse country in the world, and has also been torn by war for the last 50 years, and part of the reason our fauna and flora has been preserved is because so much of the country was inaccessible for years.
The stapes of Burundian cuisine are similar to the rest of Africa - beans, maize, rice, cassava... so for this week I picked a super simple kidney bean dish (although some recipes used white beans) with chilli and onion! The original recipe is here!
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 tbsp oil
2 tins of kidney beans - drained
1 red onion
5 dried chillies (you could use fresh or chilli powder)
Salt and pepper to test
Method
Cut the onion in half and then cut into slices.
Add oil to a frying pan over medium - high heat. Then add the onion and the chilli, cook until onion begins to brown.
Add the beans, salt and pepper - stir until the beans are warm. Serve with rice and vegetables!
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