Angolan Cuisine

The coastal part of Angola is very fond of chillies in food. This cuisine includes fish marinated in ginger, tomatoes, and cayenne, cooked in peanut oil. Other very popular ingredients are lime, garlic, peanut oil, palm oil, and often coconut oils. Okra and black eyed peas are used in many dishes. Flaked and dried fish is a star ingredient in the Angolan coastal cuisine. Fish browned in oil and combined with chicken, yam, onions, chilli oil and water to make a highly flavoured stew. A specific dish is Gumbo, made from tomatoes, okra and butter. Another great dish is Molho Cru, a tasty sauce for fish and seafood. It is made using garlic, green onions, parsley, ground cumin and vinegar. In the southern part of the coastal region, due to Namibian influences, people make a kind of beer from marula fruit. Luanda, the capital city of Angola is situated in the coastal region. The cuisine of Luanda is eclectic and diverse, with many influences from European cuisines. One of the popular dishes here is Fish Calulu, a main dish served with funge and palm oil beans.


The continental part of Angola has few cities and many tribal villages. That makes its cuisine less sensitive to outside influences. In this area you can find traditional dishes like Calalou. The ingredients for this dish include beef, mutton, pork, chicken, sometimes game, dried fish, shrimp, spinach, okra, and tomatoes that are cooked in palm oil and seasoned with very hot pepper. Other popular dishes are Bobotie (baked ground lamb curry with custard topping), Sosaties (skewered marinated lamb with curry-tamarind sauce) or Moambe Stew (made with the fruit and oil of the oil palm, beef, chicken or even game like crocodile or venison). Many recipes use African red rice as a primary ingredient. Some of these recipes characteristic to Angolan continental cuisine are Benachin (a mix of various ingredients including meat, greens and rice), Jollof Rice (the basic ingredients are: rice, tomatoes and tomato paste, onion, salt, and red pepper; nearly any kind of meat, fish, vegetable, or spice can be added) and Wali wa Nazi (coconut rice).