Zanzibar Urojo

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp gram flour (besan)
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 1.2 litres water
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 green unripe mango, peeled and roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 2 limes, juiced
• 300g waxy potatoes, boiled and cut into chunks
• 4 eggs, hard-boiled and halved
• 200g cassava, peeled and cut into thin shavings
• 150g gram flour for the bhajia batter
• 2 large potatoes, sliced into thin rounds for bhajia
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 700ml oil, for deep frying
• 4 tbsp tamarind sauce
• 4 tbsp coconut chutney
• 1 small bunch coriander, chopped
• 2 tbsp crushed roasted peanuts

Before you cook

• Boil the 300g waxy potatoes until tender, drain them, and cut them into large chunks.
• Hard-boil the eggs for 9 minutes, cool and peel them, then halve them.
• Peel the cassava, remove the woody core, and shave it into thin strips with a peeler.
• Slice the two large potatoes into 3mm rounds and pat them dry.
• Whisk the 150g gram flour with the baking powder, chilli powder, a pinch of turmeric, 1/2 tsp salt and about 180ml water into a thick coating batter.
• Peel and chop the green mango.

Steps

1. Whisk the 3 tbsp gram flour and 2 tbsp plain flour with 300ml of the water in a jug until absolutely smooth.
2. Heat the 2 tbsp oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and fry the garlic and ginger for 1 minute.
3. Add the turmeric and cumin and stir for 30 seconds.
4. Pour in the remaining 900ml water and add the chopped green mango.
5. Simmer for 15 minutes until the mango has softened and given up its sourness.
6. Pour the flour slurry into the pan in a thin stream while whisking constantly.
7. Cook the soup on a low simmer for 20 minutes, whisking every couple of minutes, until it thickens to the consistency of pouring custard and no longer tastes floury.
8. Season with the salt and lime juice and keep the soup warm over the lowest heat.
9. Heat the frying oil in a deep pan to 175C.
10. Dip the potato rounds into the gram flour batter one at a time and lower them into the oil.
11. Fry the bhajia for about 4 minutes until golden and crisp, then drain them on a rack.
12. Drop the cassava shavings into the same oil and fry for 2 minutes until they curl and crisp, then drain and salt them.
13. Ladle the hot soup into four wide bowls.
14. Pile the boiled potato chunks, bhajia and egg halves into each bowl so they sit half-submerged.
15. Spoon over the tamarind sauce and coconut chutney.
16. Finish each bowl with crisp cassava, crushed peanuts and chopped coriander, and serve at once before the crisp parts soften.