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Simple Creamy Miroo (Mitoo) Recipe

We use whole milk, onions and a combination of other traditional Luhya vegetables to take the sting off the known bitterness of miroo (mitoo) to serve the tastiest, creamy slenderleaf in a way our grandparents never imagined.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine African Cuisine, East African Cuisine, Luhya Cuisine
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 to 1 Cup Munyu Musherekha
  • 1 Big Red Onion Medium chopped.
  • 1.5 Cups Whole Milk Substitute with cream if you don't mind the calorie. Use your preffered milk substitue if vegeterian or lactose intolerant.

Luhya Traditional Vegetables Salsa For Cooking

  • 4 Handfuls mitoo/miroo leaves Include flowers if present and stem if shots are tender
  • 2 Handfuls kunde (cowpeas leaves) Can be substituted with seveve (pumpkin leaves)
  • 1 Handful Murere/Murenda optional

Instructions
 

  • Prepare the vegetables by plucking off the leaves off the stems for the miroo and murenda.
  • For the kunde, if the leaves are not young, additionally rip the leaves off their ribs. Do this only for the larger leaves. Use your discretion, do not remove all the fiber!
  • Clean the vegetables to rid off soil. As you clean them, keep the vegetables separate. Remember to let as much water as possible to drip off.
  • In a pot over medium heat, pour the cup of munyu musherekha and bring it to a boil.
  • Add the vegetables one by one, starting with the kunde leaves and string along the way. The goal is to cook the vegetables in their own water, therefore regulate the heat so that the water doesn't evaporate off too fast.
  • Add whole milk, cream or your preferred milk substitute to your preferred 'level of creamy'. The trick is to add bit by bit while letting it cook before the next addition.
  • Once done - reduced and with slimy texture- add the chopped red onion and stir. Cover and let the onions cook through.
  • Season with salt to taste. If you are fan of hot chillies, add some to your taste. I find the combination of bitter from the miroo/mitoo, sweet from the whole milk and spicy from the chillies such a bomb of taste.
  • Serve with ugali and preferred protein choice.

Video

Notes

All About The Bitter Taste Of Miroo (Mitoo)

  • The bitterness of this traditional Luhya vegetable delicacy is as a result of potentially toxic compounds that miroo (mitoo) naturally produces.
  • Don't you worry though for it is thought that the elaborate cooking methods used to prepare slenderleaf for food actually result in detoxification. 
  • Some of these toxins, a class of chemicals known as Diterpene, have beneficial properties of reducing inflammation and possessing the ability to kill bacteria.
  • Thanks to these compounds leaves of miroo (mitoo) have also been used to treat yellow fever, soothe sore feet and treat mouth and throat rush.
  • In this recipe, we have used milk and onions to temper the bitterness of miroo (mitoo). Moreover, we have also added other traditional vegetables - seveve, murenda and kunde - for the same reason.
Keyword Creamy Delicacies, Simple, Traditional