Green Bananas – Matoke | Chilli Mash Company | 6kg Box | East African Highland Bananas

Fresh Matoke (Ibitoke/Matooke) straight from Rwanda to your door. An East African delicacy, they are a staple food in countries including Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania. Traditionally steamed or boiled, they then turn soft and yellow and are served whole or mashed.

Traditionally, Matoke are peeled using a knife, wrapped in the plant’s leaves (or plastic bags), and set in a cooking pot (Swahili: sufuria) atop the banana stalks. The pot is then placed on a charcoal or wood fire and the matoke is steamed for a couple of hours, water is poured into the bottom of the cooking pot multiple times. The stalks in the bottom of the pot serve to keep the leaf-wrapped fruits above the level of the hot water. While uncooked, the matoke is white and fairly hard; cooking turns it soft and yellow. The matoke is then mashed while still wrapped in the leaves or bags and often served on a fresh banana leaf. It is typically eaten with a sauce made of vegetables, ground peanut, or some type of meat (goat or beef).

Ugandan traditional meal with Matoke steamed and served with luwombo, meat or groundnuts steamed in banana leaves.
Matoke are also used to make a popular breakfast dish called Katogo in Uganda. Katogo is commonly cooked as a combination of the peeled bananas and peanuts or beef, though offal or goats meat are also common.

In Bukoba, Tanzania, matoke (or ebitooke) are cooked with meat or smoked catfish, and beans or groundnuts. This method eliminates the need for preparing a separate sauce. In this recipe, the matoke are not mashed. Up until the early 1980s, this was the most common meal in Bukoba and would be eaten year round.