How To Make Chachupa

Chachupa is the national dish of Cape Verde and  there are many ways to cook this tasty dish. It remains to be the distinct style of food for really practical reasons. The version of making Chachupa that we have here is called Chachupa Rica. It uses all of the ingredients on hand that we are providing below to make a rich meaty flavourful dish.

• Two cups of hominy

• Half a cup of kidney beans

• Half a cup lima beans

• Quarter cup shell beans

• Half lbs. chourico sliced

• ½ lbs of blood sausage sliced (morcella)

• 1 lbs of chopped cabbage

• ¼ sliced bacon

• 1 lbs chopped tomatoes

• 1lbs peeled and sliced plantains

• 1 lbs peeled & chunked yams

• 1 lbs peeled and chunked sweet potatoes

• 1 lbs peeled and chunked squash

• 1 chopped onion

• 2 cloves chopped garlic

• One bay leaf

• One tablespoon of chopped coriander

1. Soak the beans and hominy in a large bowl of water overnight.
2. On the next day heat six cups of water in a sauce pan. Add in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, garlic, onions & bay leaf. Bring to the boil and add in the beans and hominy. 
3. In another separate saucepan, cook the Chourico , blood sausage , bacon and all the vegetables together. 
4. Once you are done with this let it simmer till the beans and hominy are almost tender. 
5. Add in the cooked meats and vegetables to the large saucepan on top of the beans & hominy. Cook this on low heat for at least one hour. 
6. After an hour turn off the heat and let it sit in the covered pan for approximately one and a half hours.