Cassava baton aka Kwanga, Chickwang, Chikwanga (DR Congo)

Ingredients

• Fresh roots of cassava OR cassava dough OR ready-made chikwanga
• Water
• leaves or aluminium foil to wrap and cooking thread to tie

Instructions

1. Prepare the dough or buy it!

The fresh cassava roots are peeled to reveal the white starch. They are then fermented by soaking in water for three to four days until it softens. They are then taken out and filtered or actually blended to remove those un-chewable ‘fibres’ and ensure you end up with a smooth dough. An appropriate amount of the resulting dough is rolled and wrapped into one or more banana leaves (or more modernly, aluminium foil) in the shape of a small rectangular bread and tied with ropes.

2. Cooking (only if you did not buy a ready-made chikwang)

To boil them cooked: put your wrapped chickwang in boiling water and cook for about 2 to 4 hours.To steam them cooked: put your wrapped chickwang in a steaming basket and place this on top of boiling water. Cook for about 5 to 8 hours.

3. Preparation for serving

If you bought your chikwanga or are taking it out of the fridge, 2 to 5 minutes in the microwave or to steam while still inside their leave wrap does it. If the leaves wrap have been discarded or they were originally done in aluminium foil, please remove any foil and put in a microwave-safe container or a bain-marie-enabled container before putting it in there.When your chikwang is ready, take it out of its container and/or wrapping, cut into round portions and serve on the plate just before eating.