Luwombo is a traditional dish that is very popular amongst the Baganda from whom it originated. Overtime other Bantu speaking tribes in Uganda have also taken up eating Luwombo in their culture. It is basically served in banana leaves on functions to the very important guests at the event. It is therefore looked at as a very special dish, one that you do not eat everyday but one that you eat on special occasions.
However, the science behind its preparation is usually ignored because the focus is on the mouth-watering taste that people get from eating it. So here is the secret in making Luwombo,
The banana leaves that are used for Luwombo need to be young with no cuttings in between. In the case that you are making Luwombo for about 4 people you can cook it in one banana leaf alone but if it for a function, you use half a banana leaf so that everyone has their own “Mpombo”.
The banana leaves need to be smoked before pouring the mixture for your Luwombo into them. This makes it easy for the steam which cooks the meal to get to get to your ingredients. After smoking the banana leaves, you have fold it and use a kitchen basin or saucepan to make a depression. However, after folding you need to add half a banana leaf inside the already folded one so that the ingredients of the Luwombo do not pour out.
After smoking your banana leaves and making a depression, the next part differs depending on the kind of Luwombo you are going to make.
Groundnut Luwombo
If it is the smooth powdered gnuts, you need to put in a dish depending on how many people you are cooking for. Then you add water to make a smooth paste and mix to ensure that there are no particles in the mix. The idea is to make a paste that is not watery but again not so thick because once it is so thick, it will be hard to eat it with your food.
After adding water, you add salt to taste and also finely cut onions. They should not just be lamps of onions because the sauce should appear to be very smooth when it is ready.
After this you can pour it in the depression that you had made of the banana leaves. If you want to add anything to your groundnuts, you add it at this point for instance the dried and well chopped mushrooms, well roasted meat or even the boneless dry fish.
Next, you fold the banana leaves in between with the groundnuts in the middle.
Then you place your fingers in the middle and bring the bananas close to a middle point from left to centre and then right to centre.
After this you tie a banana fibre around the folded banana leaves. The fibre should go around two times but it should not be too tight. This is because the steam that cooks the Luwombo needs to escape. After tying you should also leave a small knot so that it is easy to open.
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Chicken/Beef/Goat Luwombo
The meat Luwombo is basically made in the same way irrespective for the meat type. The difference with this one and the groundnut Luwombo is that the meat should be well dried first by roasting it on open fire. This gives it flavor and taste.
For people who want to make their meat taste extra special you can marinate the meat with onions, garlic and some cooking powder. After it marinates, you can then roast it.
After the meat roasts you can chop it into pieces and after that, you get your banana leaves, smoke them and put them in a kitchen basin or saucepan like I explained for the groundnuts Luwombo.
For the meat Luwombo, you can get a bowl where you put grated tomatoes or finely chopped tomatoes. The tomatoes should be peeled to avoid their skin from cooking and giving the ready Luwombo a funny look. To the tomatoes, you add finely chopped onions and salt to taste. You mix them in water and then pour onto the meat.
For the meat Luwombo, you should not add a lot of water because the meat produces its own water which makes the sauce even more tasty. After adding all your ingredients, you fold and tie like I explained for the groundnuts Luwombo.
The final process
After you have made and tied up your mpombo, ensure your saucepan’s base is well laid out with well-cut and washed stems from the banana bunch or you can use the mid rib of the banana leaves. After laying them, you can add another banana leaf to act as a base for your mpombos. You should also add water up to the level of this base to produce the steam to cook your Luwombo. Then you put your well tied mpombos and cover them with another banana leaf to trap the steam.
For your Luwombo to get ready it should take about 2 to 3 hours. Less of that, it will be ready but it won’t be as nice. Just like when preparing matooke, you should also keep adding water to ensure that it doesn’t burn.
When the Luwombo is ready, you can serve it with matooke or any food of your preference. It can be served in the banana leaves or you can scoup it out of the banana leaves and serve it separately.
You can cook your meat or ground nuts this way without adding any single drop of oil. It is very healthy and also very tastey. Be sure to try it out at home.
