Traditional Maguru stew (tripe) - ZimboKitchen (2024)

Maguru (tripe) are among Zimbabwe’s top favored traditional foods. They are one of those dishes that you may have fond or maybe not so fond childhood memories of. If that be the case, hopefully today we can create a new and better set of memories 🙂 I had personally never cooked maguru so this was really somewhat trial and error and am glad to say that it came out quite well on that first trial and the taste was superb. My husband enjoyed the dish but unfortunately my kids didn’t; perhaps it will be an acquired test for them.

By way of background for the benefit of non-natives, maguru have long been traditionally something that many Zimbabweans particularly in rural areas look forward to whenever a beast (cow) is communally or privately slaughtered. This delicacy is equally enjoyed by urbanites who frequently access it at local butchery shops.

I know maguru could be a dread for many people to prepare as they require a lot of time to cook which one may not have. So this recipe am presenting could possibly be a good way of preparing them although the highest level of precaution needs to be taken. Another advantage of preparing tripe the way am doing it here is that you avoid adding too much water to the tripe which may affect its taste in the end. Also, using this method you escape getting a swarm of flies in your kitchen or house as you prepare these (which is a common occurrence and hindrance to many). Finally, using this same method you get to save a bit of electricity too. Ok, Let’s get started!

Quick Instructions

It’s important that you wash your maguru THOROUGHLY in warm water and trim off any excess fat so that in the end you will not have any fat emulsifying (kugwamba) both in the pot or in your plate when eating. This could be an annoying thing for some including myself. In this method we will be preparing the tripe overnight for the advantages we mentioned above. If your circ*mstances do not permit see if you can start the process in the early hours of the morning. Alternatively you can still use your slow cooker, if you have one, to achieve the same thing.

1. First as already mentioned wash your tripe in warm water and trim-off excess fat. Cut tripe into good size pieces and put into pot. Add water and salt. Partly cover and bring to the boil. Once it has boiled reduce heat to the lowest mark on your stove, cover pot completely and let it simmer overnight or for 7.5 hours.
2. After 7.5 hours the water is finished, add garlic and ginger, add frying oil and stir. Add your spices and stir; then add tomatoes and stir.
3. Add tomato sauce and stir. Give time for the tomatoes to get done (2 min). When tomatoes are done, add soup powder and pour cold water directly into the soup powder to avoid it lumping-up. Cover pot and let simmer for 5 minutes.
4. After 5 minutes your maguru are done.

Pictorial Detailed Instructions

If you have been struggling doing maguru I hope you now have your breakthrough. Should you fail for some reason please try again sticking with the directions. I cannot help but mention that this was one dish that made me happy simply because it was appreciated (save for my kids – but no hard feelings). I myself enjoyed it too. I just want to remind you that you are invited to join my newsletter ZimboKitchen Today. This is one way to never miss a recipe even when you are unable to regularly check-in on the site. I will make sure to email you whenever I post a new recipe. Just remember to verify your subscription immediately after sign-up to start receiving your recipes. Thanks ! I appreciate you.

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Rumbie

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