Cowfoot / Mazondo


Mazondo were a big part of my childhood when I was growing up. My uncles would just bring 2-4 unprepared cow feet and they would built a big fire. They would take extremely sharp knives,placing the cowfeet over the fire, they would let the flames burn the furry hairs. Then they would remove them from the fire and scrap the burnt hairs off cleaning properly leaving  the clean rough and tough skin. They would wash the cowfeet in clean water removing the smoke around them from the fire.

They would then chop the cowfeet with a sharp axe which was rather dangerous and required masculinity. We would then throw them in a large pot and immerse them in water with salt then boil for hours until they are cooked and the skin is separating slightly from the bone.

Here is the full recipe :


Ingredients

1kg Cow’s foot chopped and cleaned

1 tbsp cooking oil

1 cup chopped tomatoes (I have now replaced the c/tomatoes with passata)
1 large white onion chopped

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp madras curry powder

I tsp black pepper

Salt to season
Method

1. In a large pot, place the cow foot and pour about 4litres of beef stock (you can use any stock cubes to create stock) then add salt.

2. Place pot on medium heat and cook for 2-3hours until the cow foot is soft on touching and the skin is slightly separating from the bone then place aside.

3. In a small pan. Place the tablespoon of oil and fry the onions, once the onions are soft, add the tomatoes, madras, paprika and pepper and cook until it has turned into a thick sauce.


4. Pour the sauce in the cow foot and mix well , return to cooker and cook for a further 30mins to an hour. Once cooked, the cow foot skin should be almost falling off the bone and the gravy should be thick.