Ugali fries? Yes, you read that right. This new take on Kenya’s staple dish that no one is talking about. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside—are they worth their existence? Let’s find out
The world is a nightmare I cannot wake up from, and I’m mad at the world. Ugali what? Ugali fries? Frankly, I’m both worried and fascinated.
Okay, maybe ugali fries are an innovation—a good one even—and I’m just a scum of the earth, down with the bottom feeders, mocking local creativity. I’ll be frying a piece of ugali later in this post to tell you about it, but until then, I’ll just be a hate breeder.
To whoever started this: I mean this with the greatest respect, but what could have possibly led you to believe deep-frying ugali was a good idea?
This is a rhetorical question so don’t hit me with that; Ooh, this is just a way of making use of leftover ugali.
Well, let me tell you how my grandma taught me to handle leftover ugali—you peel off the hardened crust to get to the soft part, shred it into small pieces, add it to boiling water, let it bubble, throw in some extra flour, and just like that, you’ve got another batch of ugali.
We Just Can’t Leave Ugali Alone
I’m not the biggest ugali fan, but I respect it. That being said, we just can’t leave Ugali alone.
Years ago, there was an uproar when a foreigner dared to say, “Ugali is tasteless and just something to eat to fill you up.” A controversial take that sent many Kenyans into a frenzy.
I, too, was mildly offended—though, if we’re being honest, there was a tiny grain of truth in there. Not that I fully agree, of course.
Yes, ugali is mostly about keeping your stomach from collapsing in on itself, but it does have a taste—subtle, sure, but still there.
I’ll admit, sifted maize meal ugali can be a bit on the bland side, but you fellas really need to give wholemeal ugali a shot. It’s got more texture, more flavor, and frankly, more oomph. But no, you all think the finer it is, the higher the quality, while anything coarse must be low quality. SMH.
Anyway, back to the real issue—why can’t we just let Ugali be? We’re always out here tweaking it. Some add margarine. Others add salt. Some do both—seriously?
Then there are those who skip the stove altogether and use an electric mixer to whip ugali into submission. And just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse… now we’re deep-frying it?
When did we become Americans?
We all know the stereotype—America loves deep-fried everything. But when exactly did we decide to join them? I mean, some things are perfectly normal to deep fry—meat, potatoes, dough. Mandazis exist, and no one bats an eye at them.
But then someone looked at wheat flour dough, thought, “Hey, that fries up nicely,” and decided, “Why not maize flour dough too?”—which, of course, is just ugali. I see the logic, I really do. But even in theory, this sounds…questionable at best.
See, wheat dough is naturally smooth, thanks to its finely milled flour. Even the finest maize flour is still a little gritty in comparison.
And deep frying works for wheat dough because it’s soft and slightly sticky. Maize flour dough? I imagine it’s more on the crumbly side.
And before you bring up Mexicans and their maize tortillas—please, shut up. I’m trying to make a point here. 😂 Tortillas are not the same thing. Ugali is made by bubbling maize flour in hot water until it becomes…well, ugali.
And for some reason, I can already picture the disaster—sure, deep-fried ugali might get crispy on the outside, but inside? A greasy mess.
Ugali is full of pores; it’s basically a sponge waiting to soak up oil. But instead of just assuming, I’ll be putting this to the test. I saved a piece of last night’s ugali, and I’ll be deep-frying it to see if my theory holds up.
It better do, I spent already an hour writing till here.
Ugali Fries are Just a Dumb Idea…(Test Results)
So I deep-fried this like you would anything else—threw it in hot oil and waited for greatness. Except… my first batches kept burning.
Had to lower the oil temperature and fry until golden brown. Turns out, ugali fries are alarmingly easy to burn. But hey, I managed to get one halfway decent piece.
As I suspected, they brown okayish, but the inside? An oily, gummy, downright disgusting mess. And the worst part? Deep-frying doesn’t even improve the taste of ugali. If anything, it makes it worse.
So yeah, there is absolutely no reason anyone should be deep-frying Ugali strips.
The first time I saw this crime against Ugali was on a Chicken Inn menu, and I was visibly confused. A quick Google search later, I realized ugali fries are an entire genre—different recipes, different variations, mostly promoted by maize milling companies trying to convince us there are infinite ways to use their maize meal.
I get that capitalism needs to be capitalism, but come on… this is really pushing it.
If you somehow need to deep fry ugali please don’t instead get potatoes and I will give you my recipes to do that below, you can actually deep fry sweet potatoes if you didn’t know.
Click if interested.
