6
Ingredients
- 400 g dried red beans (soaked overnight) or 800 g cooked
- 2 onions, sliced
- 3 tomatoes, crushed
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1 bay leaf, optional
- Salt, pepper, pili-pili
- Water or stock
Method
- 01 If dried: cook the beans in plenty of water until tender (45–60 min). Drain, keeping a little cooking liquid.
- 02 Sweat onions and garlic in oil, add tomatoes and spices 8 minutes.
- 03 Stir in the beans and a little liquid. Simmer covered 15–20 minutes.
- 04 Adjust salt. The sauce should coat the beans without being watery.
- 05 Serve with bugali, rice or plantain.
Maharage (Swahili) are Eastern beans, cousins of Western [madesu](/en/recettes/madesu/). In Kivu they often sit with [bugali](/en/recettes/bugali-kivu/). Less peanut sauce than some Kasai plates: tomato, onion, patience.
In the same spirit
Other recipes close by territory or by gesture.
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Madesu
Madesu recipe: tender beans simmered with tomato, onion and red palm oil—everyday Congolese comfort food from the DRC.
20 min + 8 h soaking prep · 1 h 30 cook
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Bugali
Bugali recipe: maize flour worked with hot water into a firm paste — staple side in Kivu (cousin of Katanga bukari and East African ugali).
5 min prep · 20 min cook
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Saka-madesu
Saka-madesu recipe: cassava leaves (pondu) and beans simmered together in palm oil—classic Western DRC pairing.
30 min + 8 h soaking prep · 2 h cook