How to prepare Peh-mahui a local dish in Sierra Leone

Cutting up the leaves

PEH MAHUI DISH AND HOW IT IS PREPARED

The term Peh-Mahui is a Mende language that means ‘Spread it over’. It is a name given to a particular dish well-known in my country, Sierra Leone. Peh-Mahui originated and gets its name from the Mende ethnic group many decades ago, it is a household name among other ethnic groups.

Tribes throughout the country enjoys this meal because of its delicious taste and the flavour it carries. Peh-Mahui is eaten by almost all classes of people in our nation regardless of tribe, tradition, culture or status but more predominantly among the Mendes. It is best served in the morning hours.

ingredient to cook peh-mahui

The Ingredients

A student helping out in the kitchen

This dish is very popular and easy to prepare. You just need the following ingredients: Rice, Dry Fish (herring), Maggie, Kainda (a special spice from Guinea), Salt, hot Pepper (Neneh koro), Potato leaves, Palm oil or Vegetable oil, and onion. Please note that the quantity of ingredients depends on the number of people one wishes to serve. But for explanation's sake let us mention an appreciable amount. All vegetables should be washed before use.

Let us talk a bit about the ingredients that have helped Peh-Mahui to be so loved by our people.’Kainda’. It is rolled into cylindrical shapes and its black. It has a nice flavour and it is also highly nutritious. Another ingredient used as a substitute for kainda is Ogeri. Ogeri is another food ingredient that is always available in the local market and can be used when kainda isn't available. It is processed from benny seeds and it contains proteins and fatty acids. It is locally made by our women folks in Sierra Leone. The combination of one of these flavours with the other ingredients makes this dish appetising.

Step by step instructions on how to cook the peh-mahui

Just getting started on the peh-mahui dish

Just getting started on the peh-mahui dish

Pour three cups of water into a clean pot, place it over a fire and allow it to boil while you shred the potato leaves. Grind half a cup of pepper, slice three bulbs of onions and cut the fish into bits, then wash and strain. When the water is boiled, measure three and a half cups of rice, put it in the boiling water and stir the content gently. After two minutes, add half a tablespoon of salt into the pot. Allow the pot to boil for some time and spread the shredded potato leaves over the rice along with the pepper, onions, kainda and fish; this is where the name of the dish comes from because the potato leaves and other ingredients are spread over the rice to cook. After 15 minutes of boiling reduce the fire below the pot to create a balance between moderate and excessive heat, so the food will not be undercooked or overcooked. A burnt scent could completely overshadow the flavour that accompanies the dish. plus It will be unpleasant to eat the food when it is not properly cooked especially rice and kainda.

Serving

When the food is cooked, scrape off the potato leaves and other ingredients off the top of the rice and turn them into another pot, add oil and place over a fire. Now it's time to put some Maggie, preferably jumbo Maggie. Leave it to boil over a low heat whilst the rice is being dished into a bowl. After dishing the rice, the sauce is then spread over the rice and served. Bon Appetit! Peh-Mahui is usually eaten in the morning hours in the rural areas, and on Saturdays by working classes in the urban areas. It has become one of the most frequently eaten food in our nation today because of the high cost of living. It is cheap and can be prepared in less than 30 minutes.