page_title: Lugbara cuisine
section_title: Dishes/ soups
hierarchical_section_title: Lugbara cuisine / Dishes/ soups
caption_attribution_description: This is an image of food from Uganda
context_page_description: Lugbara cuisine is one of the meals of East Africa and the ancient Lado Enclave. The Lugbara people of northwestern Uganda and northeastern DR Congo eat not only vegetable dishes, but also animals like goats, cows plus ope and catch insects like onya for food which is called nyaka in the standard Lugbara language used in Arua. Cassava flour sometimes mixed and mingled with millet or sorghum like posho or ugali is the staple food and is called enya [kalo or atap in Ateso, fufu in West Africa] accompanied with a range of soup dishes. Rice, yams, potatoes and matoke are also eaten. Below is a list of some of the Lugbara-styled delicacies you can find in West Nile Restaurants, Ariwara Town, Arua Park in Kampala and many homes or cafeterias that cherish traditional Lugbara cuisine.
context_section_description: Alanda/ Amboroko 
  The Lugbara antcake is made from small white ants and is like ombangulu. Trapping of ants is usually done during daytime (morning or evening). A flat grassless mass of soil, hard like an anthill, is called amboroko. A hole is dug there, then mud mixed and dome placed on top of the hole. The wanted insects from underground gather in the raised mud while a song is sung, “Kuru, kuru, kuru!” plus drum beaten. An opening is created in the mud to let the insects out and the drummer sings, “’Ba ki ilulua ilu, ma ilu ku!” [Translation: People are creating an opening, am not!”]. When these insects are scooped within the mud, they are pounded soft with wings still on. Some people put them in leaves and boil, and then dry them until they harden. Otunyo (Yesterday's white ants) are pressed into an otaku pot. When it ferments/ smells after two days, it is pressed with a ladle. Then, leaves are put on it in the pot. It can be added to food like agobi(fresh pumpkin leaves chopped and prepared). It is not put in beans or meat. Akuruma is collected in the mornings and there is always a lot of noise made from empty tins, jerrycans, jingles, etc. Ifu/ Ofu is gathered in the late afternoon (3–4 pm) with children singing. Ica is the last type usually gathered before dusk (6–7 pm).
  Anyoya 
  Boiled dry maize and beans sumptuous for breakfast is called anyoy(i)a in the Alur language of Nebbi and means "fermented"; also called empengere in Luganda. Anyoya is prepared at night for consumption in the morning. It is the staple food for Japadhola in Eastern Uganda who are ethnically linked to the Alur of West Nile and Luo of Kenya. In Arua Town, some love to call it "mix" and can include onions fried separately in oil. Angarawa or angaraba [in Terego dialect] refers to skinless beans, slightly fried or cooked, and mixed with g-nut paste. The Kikuyu in Kenya call it githeri and a story is told of one very traditional elder who was invited for a function and after examining the other dishes all round in the buffet, he was glad to find githeri and filled his plate. 
  Aria (Birds)
  Besides chicken, guineafowls, ducks (mbata) and turkeys (kulu kulu), the Lugbara keep some and hunt other birds of the sky, for example pigeons (amamu), weaverbirds plus sparrows using a Y-shaped sling locally called abudira or abidira. This tradition even inspired a Luganda song entitled "Akanyonyi Akalugwara" (A Lugbara Bird). In a household setting, the father gives the gizzard to his eldest child or any other he chooses.
  Au gbe (Chicken eggs)
  Eggs are boiled or fried and added to a different sauce if not prepared in groundnut paste or onions and tomatoes as sauce.
  Banda bi (Cassava leaves) 
  Called pandu in DR Congo, this dish can be mixed with i'bi (fish – preferably dry), ngenjia (small silver fish) or eza (minced meat).
  Drika (Mushrooms) 
  Maru are big white mushrooms that grow near anthills. Other mushrooms may grow where cooked cereals are dumped.
  E'bi or I'bi (Fish)
  Angara, ngenjia and tilapia are the most common type of fish eaten by the Lugbara in West Nile. Nzikinziki is a Madi dish made from fish whose bones have been removed, mashed and cooked in groundnut paste. It is a delicacy in Adjumani.
  Eza (Meat)
  Animal parts which are soft for instance liver and hump are given to the elderly. They have reached a stage where they cannot eat hard things but they should be kept comfortable. Experienced and skilful youth weigh pieces of goat meat or mutton with both hands until they are equal and start distributing during slaughter. Putuku (also called Mulokoni) is the leg of a cow, also a celebrated delicacy. In Vurra – the Orchard of West Nile,  au (chicken) combined with ago (pumpkin) is a special. Others enjoy ope (Guineafowl) which the Lugbara used to rear most in Uganda. You could add some Indian curry to spice it up. Pork is a very Wanted Meat in the modern times, and can attract huge numbers to a village sale. Lugbaras now rare pigs more than they did before. In Terego, edible rats called omba omba hide in underground holes and are hunted for food. Line
caption: Osubi (Bean leaves)
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