🇹🇿 Tanzanian / Swahili · Swahili & Coastal Cuisine
🫘 Tanzanian Pigeon Peas with Coconut
Mbaazi wa Nazi
Tanzanian Mbaazi wa Nazi — pigeon peas simmered in thick coconut milk until creamy and rich. The definitive Zanzibar breakfast dish — always eaten with mahamri as the island's most celebrated morning combination. Rich, earthy, and deeply comforting.
Mbaazi wa Nazi with mahamri is to Zanzibar what ugali with sukuma wiki is to mainland Tanzania — the defining combination. The creamy pigeon peas in coconut milk against the cardamom-sweet mahamri creates a breakfast of perfect balance: earthy richness from the peas, lightness from the doughnut, both enriched by coconut.
Ingredients
Equipment: Large pot
- 300g dried pigeon peas — soaked overnight
- 500ml thick coconut milk
- 1 onion — diced
- 2 tomatoes — diced
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp ginger
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp salt
- ¼ cup coriander
Method
- Cook soaked pigeon peas in fresh water for 55—65 minutes until completely tender.
- Heat oil. Cook onion until golden.
- Add garlic, ginger, curry powder, turmeric. Stir 30 seconds.
- Add tomatoes. Cook 5 minutes.
- Add cooked peas with their cooking liquid.
- Simmer 10 minutes.
- Add coconut milk. Simmer gently 15 minutes until thick and creamy.
- Garnish with coriander.
Chef Tips
- The pigeon peas must be completely tender before adding coconut milk.
- More coconut milk than TZA104 — this is the Zanzibar morning version, meant to be richer.
- Never boil hard after adding coconut milk.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Under-cooked pigeon peas.
- Boiling coconut milk.
The Science
See TZA104 for pigeon pea cooking science.
Nutrition (per serving)
Health Benefits
- High plant protein.
- Very high fibre.
- Coconut milk MCTs.
Cultural Note
Mbaazi wa Nazi with mahamri is the breakfast that every Zanzibari who has left the island misses most deeply. It is the taste of home, of the morning, of the call to prayer and the smell of the sea — all in one bowl.
Storage & Serving
Storage: Refrigerate 5 days. Freeze 3 months.
Reheating: Gently.
Serve with: Mahamri (TZA006), Vitumbua (TZA126), Chai ya Tangawizi