What is 'KOROGA'?

Pradeep (read that with an Indian accent, bobbing and swaying head on neck without moving the neck) a longtime friend and his family invited me for my first Koroga and I immediately fell in love. (With the Koroga- not with Pradeep!) This is how it happened.

I was struggling with rebuilding a car I had just bought and was terribly upset when I drove into my mechanics ‘workshop’ in South ‘C’. Wahome, the owner of the shop welcomed me with this statement:
“Pore sana ndugu yagu lakini Krangasaft hii ramiza uperekee muhidi.”

As it was about noon and I knew most engineering workshops close at 1 o’clock I quickly called Pradeep and asked him not to close- I lied to him that I was caught up in traffic. He agreed and I headed straight out to Baricho road.
On arrival I found the whole family, Pradeep,Sundeep and the dad-Grudeep Shah. ( I know the names the names sound funny but I assure you- they are real people. The workshops heavy steel doors were closed and they were all visibly annoyed at me for delaying them.

“Rafiki.. shauri gani veve nafanya sisi na ngoja zaidi?” Daddy Grudeep asked with the bobbing of the head.

“Ni shauri ya traffic mzee.” That bobbing always amused me and I caught myself just in time before I started imitating him. Grudeep was a happy old man, he was always smiling and liked to refer to himself as a kikuyu muindi.He instructed me to leave my crankshaft with Mutiso and come to collect on Monday morning.
“Shauri veve nachelewa veve naenda Koroga na sisi nei?” This was posed as a question but I had known him too many years to mistake it for that.

I parked my car, jumped into the back seat and made myself comfortable in their van. As Pradeep drove through the Nairobi streets he turned up the volume of stereo and ‘hindi’ music erupted through the speakers. I pretended to enjoy the music.

Our first stop was South ‘B’ where we purchased 2 kienyeji chicken. The Shah’s were regulars here it appeared, because the chicken were quickly slaughtered, halved, quartered, cubed and packed in two plastic bags all in under 10 minutes!

I had thought we were going very far but we crossed Mombassa road and went to Kenya Motor Sports Club. We had barely sat down when a couple of waiters descended on our Makuti banda delivering a jiko a wok, butter and an assortment of dried spices.

Grudeep put the wok on the jiko and a slab of butter (yes the WHOLE 250grammes) followed. The onions were thrown in when the butter had heated up and fried until they were crispy brown. Next he threw in the tomatoes- already cut up and mixed spices to the already heavenly smelling concoction. As Grudeep threw in the chicken pieces he explained why it was important to use ‘road runner chicken’ and not broilers. He said broilers are too soft and cook to fast. The aim of the Koroga is to spend time together tell jokes politick and just enjoy a drink and the outdoors. More onions went in and more spice and yes- a lot more chillies!! Water was added when it started sticking to the bottom and at intervals Pradeep Grudeep and Sundeep would take turns at stirring (or korogaring) the mix. Stir (Koroga) -add water- taste- Stir (Koroga)- add water- Stir- taste- add water – Koroga. After a couple of hours of this and low heat you obtain a delightful chicken Koroga. Served with bread or roti or ugali it is splendid.

That my friends is Koroga.

QUATRO CHARGE

I am waiting for pictures of the Quatro Charge from a friend so I can show all of you in pictures. But in short: The Quatro Charge is an annual event where big boys and recently big girls come to participate in an obstacle challenge for 4x4 vehicles in some very ungodly terrain. The challenge is a bit like the Rhino Charge without the distances and less rigorous and shorter obstacles. Some of the obstacles are man made others are natural-eg river crossings steep inclines and so forth. It is a spectator event, which is family friendly. Many serious charge fanatics use this to gauge the performance of their vehicles before the Rhino Charge.Spectators can try attempt the challenge- although it is advisable not to use you office to work car for this. Rob Collinge of Robs Magic suspensions was the organizer.

More to follow.