Uganda – Senene (Swenene) Stew

by Tanomba Thati

Well, you don’t bother to understand the term “stew”, but “senene”; it’s a traditional name for seasonal grasshoppers that happens to show on during the rainy seasons, they are mostly found around maize branches’ holes, with heads on the holes leaving their bodies wide open.

Uganda is a country found in the eastern part of Africa, bordering Tanzania to the south, Kenya to the East part, Ethiopia to the north as well as Burundi and Rwanda to the south west.

Senene are famous around bush places like Bugema where cultivation is a primary activity. They are also found in Tanzania around Lake Victoria countries.

Since senene are seasonal, it’s a tricky to get them easier anywhere in the world, instead people catch and make packages of fried senene that can stay for a longer time, many supermarkets do the same here in Uganda.

Welcome to this cuisine, catch your senene packet and let us make it from scratch.

Ingredients

• 1 packet of fried senene
• 2 Garlics
• 1 onion
• Peppers for taste
• 1 Lemon
• Salt

Cooking procedures

First of all let us discuss on how one can catch senene.

Most of the time people use traditional methods of gathering senene by placing a shiny electrical bulb and stay for a while to start catching them, this way is even better, very easy. Many catching ways consist of placing a shiny object and a collection point.

Here’s how we cook it.

• Chop onions and grin garlics.
• Prepare lemon juice, put aside.
• In a frying pan, add some fresh oil, start to fry onions for a while like 2 minutes.
• Add senene and garlics, mix slowly, add pepper and salt for taste.
• Add lemon, mix it and leave on heat under low cooker for 2 minutes, our cuisine is ready.
• Amazed!, Enjoy with friends and family members.