Nyama choma and Kenyans are two words that blend in well. We love Nyama Choma, and while you can get it out in the different restaurants, you can also make it at home. Let’s just say I have come to love it more since my brother-in-law made it for us. Try his nyama choma, and you will never eat it elsewhere.
He showed us that simplicity goes a long way. But the best part is that we use an open charcoal grill, which is even artistic. Typical of most Kenyan meals, we love simple but tasty food. Keep reading to learn how to make the tastiest, juiciest nama choma.
The good thing is that you can choose any of your favorite ingredients when cooking at home. We go easy, but use any other extra ingredients of your liking.
What is Nyama Choma
What comes to mind when you hear nyama choma? For me, The carnivore and roast houses in Nairobi come to mind. Other places to get the best meat are Ngong, Narok, Kitengela, and many more.
Nyama Choma is a Swahili phrase that refers to roasted/grilled meat. We are meat lovers generally as a country, and that’s why Nyama Choma is still one of the most common meals when you talk of Kenya’s best foods. For this, we are mostly talking about charcoal-grilled meat.
Why make it at home?
You can quickly go to a restaurant and get it, but it’s even better cooked at home, as shown below.
It’s versatile
Use any meat you choose. If you like pork, mutton, beef, or goat meat, you can select the one you would like to use. Like most Choma places, you get to use the meat you want.
You can add on whichever spice you like and make it even better.
If you like it the traditional way, do it, but if you prefer to play around with the ingredients, go ahead.
It’s clean
The hygiene aspect of it makes home-cooked ones the best. At least you get to wash your hands many times to reduce food poisoning risk. You are making it at home so you can make it all clean.
I mean, you generally influence the taste.
Generally, those who love nyama choma love it just for being nama choma. However, with your antiques, you make it yours for your taste buds.
I know out here you may need some rich source to go with it on the side, and you are allowed to make that too, for the best part is that you can make it too.
How to make Nyama Choma
So, the first thing I like to do is marinate the meat to tenderize it and add flavor. We usually make nama choma from our freshly slaughtered goat, sheep, pig, or cow. But if you only have a few kgs, keep reading. You’ll love it.
Divide it into roast parts. I love the ribs, but of course, choose whichever works.
Ingredients
- 3kgs of meat. I love the ribs parts, but you can use whichever parts as long as it’s tender.
- Ginger garlic paste or just the garlic powder and ginger powder.
- Onion powder
- Lemon
- Cayenne
- salt
- Soy sauce (optional)
Method
Prepare the meat
Choose the right meat for grilling and then slice it to the desired sizes. If it’s the home-slaughtered one, have the major parts like ribs, legs, and arms cut out. Clean it and then set it aside.
Now, make the marination mix. I like to use soy sauce, so add five tablespoons of soy sauce in a small dish. Add the lemon juice to the mixture, then add your ginger, garlic paste, cayenne, salt, and onion powder, and mix properly.
Add the marinade to the clean meat. Let it marinate for a few hours to overnight. If you intend to marinate overnight, set it in the fridge. However, if you don’t have much time, you can let it sit for about an hour, and it’s ready.
Prepare your grill
You can start to prepare the grill depending on the grill you have. Preheat it, or even using the open-fire charcoal grill, you can light it up to prepare. It’s the heat that makes it nicely cooked or not.
Grill the meat
Is the grill ready? When it reaches the medium-low heat range, you can set the meats on the grates for them to start cooking. For easy cooking, ensure it has enough space, and you can also baste it using the regular fire style.
In most cases, we like the meat fully cooked, and of course, if you like it medium or rare, you can still make it so. If you need to add some oil, you can, but in most cases, we don’t because it already has fats.
Turn sides to make sure both sides cook correctly. Once it’s 80% done, take aluminum foil, wrap all the pieces, and then return to the charcoal fire. This helps retain the juices and keep them soft.
It usually takes anything from 30 minutes to 50 minutes to be ready. It depends, though, on the size of the cuts and the tenderness.
When using an oven, remember to follow the same procedure. Grill it in a hot oven, and when it’s about to be fully cooked, then wrap it with foil paper and let it cook for another 10-15 minutes.
Serve hot
Once it’s ready, you can serve it with your favorite vegetable and ugali for a whole meal. It’s versatile, too; you can even eat it as it is without other meals.