Dek Ngoo (Pigeon Peas with Peanut Butter)
Dek ngoo consists of pigeon peas with peanut butter, a delicacy from Gulu. It is best served with posho (ugali), millet bread (kalo), or sweet potatoes (layata). It can be eaten as a dip or a soup. Shear nut oil (moo yaa) can be used to improve its taste.
1 cup of split pigeon peas
Peanut butter
Salt
Magadi (rock salt)
Soak split pigeon peas in 1.5 L of warm water for 1 hour. The peas should be plumped up and soft, and the skins that were on some of them should be coming off.
1 hour
Sieve the water into a saucepan (all the flavor is in there), and put the water on the stove to start boiling.
Wash the peas, and remove all the skins—they will float easily because of the earlier soaking.
Put the peas in to the water you placed on the stove, then add salt and rock salt. Let it boil until the peas are mushy. There will be a froth foaming at the top while it boils—remove it with a ladle.
When the peas are mushy, add peanut butter and mix. There is a special contraption called ugwech that you can use, but you can also use a hand blender as it is easier on the muscles and quicker. The peanut butter will make the soup thick, so please add it according to taste and your desired texture.
If it becomes too thick you can add hot water to loosen the mixture.
Serve.