Zanzibar Urojo (Zanzibar Mix) with Crispy Bhajia and Mango Chutney

⏱ 75 min · Serves 4

Stone Town's most famous street bowl: a tangy, turmeric-gold mango and chickpea-flour soup poured over crushed potatoes, crunchy bhajia and crisp cassava, then finished with coconut chutney and chilli. Sour, sweet, spicy and unbelievably addictive.

Per serving: 540 kcal · 16.0g protein · 72.0g carbs · 20.0g fat

Ingredients

• For the urojo broth:
• 4 tbsp chickpea (gram) flour
• 1.2 litres water or light chicken stock
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tbsp ginger paste
• 1 tbsp garlic paste
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• 1 unripe (green) mango, peeled and diced, or 3 tbsp tamarind paste
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp lemon juice, plus more to taste
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• For the potato bhajia:
• 6 tbsp chickpea flour
• 2 tbsp rice flour
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp chilli powder
• 120 ml cold water
• 2 medium potatoes, sliced 3mm thick
• Oil for frying
• To assemble:
• 3 medium potatoes, boiled and roughly crushed
• 150 g cassava (fresh or frozen), boiled until tender and cubed
• 2 boiled eggs, halved (optional)
• 1 handful thin crisps or fried mogo chips
• Coconut-coriander chutney: 60 g desiccated coconut, 20 g coriander, 1 green chilli, juice of 1 lime, 4 tbsp water, pinch salt
• Chilli sauce and lime wedges, to serve

Method

1. Whisk the chickpea flour into 300ml of the cold water until completely smooth with no lumps.
2. In a large pan, bring the remaining water/stock to a simmer with the turmeric, ginger, garlic, green chilli, cumin, salt and sugar.
3. Add the diced green mango (or tamarind paste) and simmer 10 minutes until the mango collapses.
4. Pour in the chickpea flour slurry in a thin stream, whisking constantly. Simmer gently for 20-25 minutes, stirring often, until thickened to a pourable soup and the raw flour taste is gone. Add lemon juice, then taste: it should be sharp, savoury and lightly spiced. Loosen with hot water if too thick.
5. Make the bhajia batter: whisk both flours, turmeric, baking powder, chilli powder and a pinch of salt with the cold water to a thick coating batter.
6. Heat oil to 180C. Dip potato slices in batter and fry in batches for 4-5 minutes until golden and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper.
7. Blitz all the chutney ingredients to a coarse green paste, adding a splash more water if needed.
8. To serve, put crushed potato, cassava cubes and a couple of bhajia in each bowl. Ladle over the hot urojo.
9. Top with more bhajia, half a boiled egg, a handful of crisps, spoonfuls of coconut chutney, a drizzle of chilli sauce and a squeeze of lime. Eat immediately while the bhajia still crunch.