Kwanzaa is not a religious festival like Christmas. It is traditional festival, which is observed to recognize and affirm the African culture in the USA.



Kwanzaa is a weeklong celebration of African heritage and culture for those, who live in the United States. Kwanzaa starts on December 26 and ends on January 1. They celebrate the festival with traditional Kwanzaa food.

All the Kwanzaa food items originated from the African continent. They are inspired from different tribal traditional foods in Africa. Peanut soup and fried Okra are the traditional foods of Kwanzaa.

The traditional feast of Kwanzaa is organized on the sixth day in the festival. During the feast, they serve different kinds of African dishes. Some Kwanzaa food items are mentioned below:

A traditional Kwanzaa dinner consists of:

  • Koki: Koki is an appetizer, which is made of black-eyed peas.

  • Peanut Soup: Peanut Soup is one of the main traditional African foods, which is served on the dinner table during the festival. This is a pan-African and African-American soup.

  • Jollof Rice: This is a main dish of the dinner.

  • Okra and Greens: This is a popular side dish in the traditional dinner.

  • Chinua Achebe: This side dish is made with sweet potatoes.

  • Dessert: In dessert, they serve fruit salad or coconut pie.

  • Beverage: The Africans keep a number of beverages on the dinner table such as ginger beer or green tea with mint.

Some of the recipes of the main dishes are mentioned below:

Recipe of Peanut Soup: For 8 servings

Ingredients:

  • 2 chopped onions
  • 2 chopped large bell peppers
  • 1 to 3 mashed large garlic cloves
  • 1 to 2 tablespoon Canola oil
  • Chopped tomatoes with juice
  • 8 cups of vegetable broth
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 cup of uncooked short grain rice
  • 2/3 cup of smooth peanut butter
  • Chopped roasted peanuts


Method: Take a frying pan and cook onions, garlic, and bell peppers until the onions turn light brown. After that, add the chopped tomatoes along with its juice. Add pepper, broth, and red pepper flakes in it after some time. Cook all the ingredients for 15 minutes on low heat. Add rice and cook it for 30 minutes. Include the peanut butter in the pan and cook until the rice is melted. Garnish the soup with the roasted peanuts and serve hot.

Recipe of Fried Okra:

Ingredients:

  • 16 oz of okra
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup of all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup of cornmeal
  • 1/8 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper / cajun seasoning
  • 1/4 cup of bacon fat/vegetable oil


Method: Bring fresh okra and wash them properly. Cut the tips and stems of the okra. Cut them into small spices. Take a mixing bowl and add salt, pepper, flour, and cornmeal, and mix them well. Take a small bowl and beat the egg well. Dip the cut okra into the beaten egg, followed by in bowl of the mixture of flour. Make sure to cover all the edges of the okra with egg and flour. prepare the flying pan with low heat. Put some vegetable oil in it. Put the okra for deep frying and cook until they turn brown. Make sure the okra become crisp and deeply fried. Serve hot.