Muboora (pumpkin leaf relish)

Muboora is a Zimbabwean relish of cooked pumpkin leaves, simmered with onion and tomato and often finished with peanut.

Muboora is an everyday side dish in Zimbabwe, eaten alongside sadza, the stiff maize porridge that forms the base of most meals. The relish is closer to a stew than a salad: the leaves cook down soft and dark, and the sauce they make is thick enough to scoop up with a piece of sadza.

What it really is

Pumpkin leaves are washed, cut into strips and simmered until tender. Onion and tomato are cooked down with them, and the relish is seasoned with salt. Many cooks add ground peanut or peanut butter, which thickens the sauce and gives it a rich, nutty flavour, while others leave it out. The classic version is made from vegetables alone, so the leaves are the main ingredient, and the dish is served as a side rather than a main course.

How it's served

• Spooned beside a mound of sadza on the same plate.
• Eaten with the fingers: a small piece of sadza is pressed into a hollow, then used to lift the relish.
• Alongside meat or fish when a meal includes them, which are separate dishes and not part of the relish.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the main ingredient: pumpkin leaves, cooked as a vegetable relish, and say that it is served with sadza.
• Flag peanuts, since peanut is often in the cooking and guests with a nut allergy need to know before they order.
• Say whether the peanut is in the sauce as ground peanut or peanut butter, and whether it is included as standard.
• List onion, tomato and salt as the standard seasoning, and sell any meat or fish as a separate item.