Ugali

Ugali is a stiff, dough-like porridge made from maize meal cooked in boiling water or milk, eaten widely across East, West and Southern Africa, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and South Africa. Maize meal, also known as mielie meal, is stirred vigorously into boiling liquid until it thickens into a firm paste, then traditionally shaped by hand and eaten alongside stews or other relishes. Maize became the staple grain behind the dish after its introduction from the Americas in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, gradually displacing sorghum and millet, and in 2017 ugali was added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, one of the few foods to receive that recognition. The name ugali comes from Swahili, and the dish carries dozens of other regional names across the African countries where it is eaten.