First, accept our apologies. We took too long with this seveve / lisebebe recipe after teaching you how to properly prepare seveve and keep them fresh for longer, the traditional luhya way. Not to worry though we make up for lost time by sharing this delicious easy seveve recipe.
But before we get going, a timely minder on the importance of properly preparing pumpkin leaves. As we always say here at Mulembe Food, “The secret to good Luhya food and indeed delicious African cuisine, lies all in preparation.” When it comes to lisebebe, this mantra could not be true enough. Because preparation is all that lies between a delicious plate of seveve or an unpalatable mess of strings and fiber.
Must Watch Video: How to prepare pumpkin leaves for traditional Luhya creamy seveve
Truth be told, seveve is one of those dishes where excellence lies in preparation rather than cooking. Thankfully, I am blessed to have a cool khukhu who allows us to takes a videos her as we need. Today, we have a video of her preparing seveve; a video that you must watch for any success with the recipe that follows.
The trick is to strip off as much as of the pumpkin leaves ‘exoskeleton’. This not only makes the seveve more palatable, but it also makes seveve go better with other traditional luhya vegetables such as mrenda and miroo.
Did you know?
Lisebebe or seveve, pumpkin leaves, as a food is thought have been introduced to the Luhya by the Kikuyu community?
Is msebe lisebebe ↗
mulembenation.co.ke, explores the cultural origin of pumpkin leaves as food among the Luhya.
Food Trivia ↗
Get to know fun food facts, trivia and answers to your commonly asked questions.
Milk or cream for seveve?
Whole milk is the best choice because we desire for some of that creaminess in our dish. Not to worry, however, if you desire a more healthy option. With this seveve recipe, any kind of milk does perfectly well. The purpose of the milk is to balance any alkalinity form the munyu musherekha. It also augments well the natural herby vibes of pumpkin leaves.
You might have also come across a seveve recipe that opts for full milk cream. The cream is skimmed off the top when the milk is boiled in a pan and let to cool. The advantage of using cream is that if it ages well, it adds a certain cheesy oomph to the dish. The disadvantage of using cream is that it may not mix well in the dish as flowing milk would.
Creamy seveve recipe the Luhya way
Ingredients
Classic Creamy Seveve Recipe
- 1/2 to 1 Cup Munyu musherekha
- 500 mls Milk
- 5 handfuls Well prepared seveve
Contemporary Sauted Creamy Seveve Recipe
- 1 large Red Onion Optional
- 3 Table Spoons Cooking Oil Optional
- 1 handful Murere/ Mrenda Optional
Instructions
Traditional For Creamy Seveve Recipe
- Clean your seveve.
- Roughly chop the seveve into a size just too big to be bite size in a fresh salad.
- In a cooking pot, bring the munyu mushereka to a boil.
- Season with salt.
- Add the vegetables. Let it cook for 5 to 10 minutes over medium heat covered. Or just about enough time for the moisture to evaporate and vegetables reduce. Keep turning to ensure it’s fully cooked through.
- Drain off any excess soup from the cooked veges.
- Add the milk and let it reduce completely. If using cream, ensure you keep stiring to help it mix well. With cream, you might need to add to a dollop of water and use the back of a wooden cooking spoon to
For Contemporary Sauted Creamy Seveve Recipe
- Once the seveve has reduced and the water evaporated (step 5 above), set aside.
- Finely chop the large red onion
- Heat the cooking oil on a pan and saute the onions until translucent. Add some chili peppers towards the end if you like your food spicy.
- Add the cooked seveve and stir in the sauteed onions.
- Add the milk or cream as above.