Ankole Tradition-Eshabwe White Sauce Delicacy (Ghee Sauce)

Eshabwe has its origin in Ankole – the land of milk and honey.

Sometimes it is referred to as ghee sauce. It is a class of clarified butter and often used as a condiment.

It’s a white tasty sauce usually served on special occasions/ceremonies by the people of western Uganda like traditional marriages, although over the years some restaurants too have adopted it on their daily menu.

Ingredients include; Clean sauce pan, Mingling stick, Sisal wrap, Sieve, White table salt / multipurpose salt, boiled water at room temperature, raw cow ghee, rock salt. Eshabwe can be served with matooke, kalo, rice and any other food of your choice.

How To Prepare Eshabwe.

1. Grate/ pound / crash rock salt to powder, and mix maximum half a small tea spoon of it in a cup of boiled water at room temperature.

2. Stir until all the particles dissolve in the water. Taste to make sure it is not too much.

3. Put the raw ghee (any amount) in a pan with the sisal wrap. Stir together. Some opt to add a pinch of crashed rock salt to help soften and dissolve the ghee easily.

4. Pour in the water (with rock salt) in small quantities as u stir until the ghee starts to dilute and whiten.

5. Keep stirring as you add the water mixture until the ghee becomes white in color. By now the eshabwe aroma has started hitting your nose.

6. Add a small amount of salt, depending on the quantity of eshabwe. Keep stirring until it dissolves completely.

7. Keep stirring until the eshabwe thickens enough and develops small bubbles.
Salt helps thicken the eshabwe and also improves the taste. By now it looks like thick plain white yoghurt and one can easily tell the aroma

8. Squeeze and remove the sisal wrap, sieve / drain in another clean container (that can be covered).

9. Serve chilled or at room temperature with other sauce, like beef, chicken (boiled or fried) peas, beans and greens, among others.

We can store eshabwe in a refrigerator, this can last for a week(s) or even a month as long as the temperature does not change.
If one doesn’t have a refrigerator just cover the Eshabwe container and place it in a pan or basin with cold water, also make sure the water should not warm up. This can go for 2-3 days, depending on the region one is in.