A Recipe for Wali Ya Mboga, Sorta

A low and slow cozy dish that's perfect for cozying up on the couch with 🫶

The recipe box is a collection of recipes and techniques from my favorite cookbooks—everything from up-and-coming titles to tried-and-true favorites from my collection. (Though you may see some original recipes here from time to time, too 😉*) You can check out TOD’s archive of past recipes here if you’re looking for some meal inspiration.

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Good morning, everyone! Just as a heads up, I’ll be on a short break from the newsletter for the next couple of weeks. I’ve got quite a bit of travel in May—first to D.C. to finally acquire something I’ve procrastinated way too long on applying for (more on this later hehe 😉) and later back to San Francisco to visit some friends. Thanks so much again, I appreciate your understanding in advance. 🖤 (Feel free to follow me on Instagram if you’re curious on what I’m up to).

Without further ado …

Last week, we had Zaynab Issa on for our eleventh edition of the That One Dish spotlight to talk about her debut cookbook “Third Culture Cooking,” her journey into the food media space, and the amazing women who’ve continued to influence her cooking. (You can find that here if you missed it). This book is a celebration of not just the East African and South Asian recipes that informed her upbringing—but of the kind of multicultural, everyday cooking representative of many second- and third-generation Americans’ way of eating.

On the docket this week is a recipe from her “Fill Up” chapter—as in, one of those dishes that you cozy up with on your couch—plus a bonus recipe for paid subscribers, which is going out this Friday.

Zaynab says that this recipe is inspired by wali ya mboga—Swahili for “rice and vegetables”—and is a riff on the Khoja version she grew up eating, reflective of her family’s roots in both East Africa and India. There’s long-grain rice (✅) and spinach (✅) in this dish, but you’ll also find yogurt-marinated chicken braised in a spiced, aromatic tomato curry with lots of sweet, frizzled onions that make this version very similar to a biryani. It’s finished off with creamy salted yogurt and served with a side of sharp, tart lemon-dressed onions (kachumber), truly making this a well-balanced meal.

Wali ya mboga is traditionally prepared in the oven, but Zaynab’s also provided instructions for a stovetop option that’s efficient yet still as delicious; both methods are recorded below. (However, there’s something to be said about how the tomato-y masala chicken and rice marry together when they’re in the oven).

Photo by Graydon Herriott

Serves 6-8

For the chicken

• 3 tablespoons plain whole-milk yogurt

• 6 garlic cloves, finely grated, divided

• 1-inch piece ginger, finely grated

• 2 ½ teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder,* divided

• 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, each thigh cut in half

• ½ cup olive oil*

• 1 large yellow onion,* thinly sliced on a mandoline

• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin

• 1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander

• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric

• 1 (14-ounce) can crushed tomatoes*

For the rice

• 1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt

• 2 cups good-quality sela or basmati rice

• 10 ounces fresh baby spinach*

For the kachumber and salted yogurt

• 1 small yellow onion,* thinly sliced

• Juice of 1 lemon*

• 2 green bird’s-eye chilis or 1 jalapeño, seeds removed if desired, sliced

• ¼ cup cherry tomatoes, halved, optional

• 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, divided

• ¾ cup plain whole-milk yogurt

*Instead of …

• Kashmiri red chili powder, use ¾ teaspoon paprika plus ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

• Yellow onion, use red onion

• Olive oil, use vegetable oil

• Crushed tomatoes, use tomato sauce

• Baby spinach, use chopped mature spinach, kale, or Swiss chard

• Lemon juice, use 2 tablespoons white vinegar and a splash of water

1. To marinate the chicken: In a large bowl or resealable bag, combine the yogurt, half of the garlic, the ginger, salt, and ½ teaspoon of the chili powder. Add the chicken and stir in the bowl or move it around in the bag to combine thoroughly, making sure to coat each piece of chicken. Marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature or up to overnight in the fridge.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large high-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Add the very thinly sliced onion and fry, stirring occasionally, until deeply browned, 15-20 minutes. If desired, using a fork or slot- ted spoon, remove about ¼ cup of the onion and transfer to a paper towel to drain and crisp up as a garnish. Add the remaining garlic, the cumin, coriander, turmeric, and remaining ½ teaspoon chili powder. Add the marinated chicken and cook for 1-2 minutes—it’s OK if the onions appear nearly burnt at this stage. Add the crushed tomatoes, stir to combine, and bring to a simmer. Partially cover and cook, stir- ring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and the curry has thickened and darkened in color, 30-35 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, prepare the rice using the pasta method: Bring a large pot of water with the salt to a boil. Add the rice to the boiling water and cook until almost tender, testing grains of rice for doneness every few minutes, between 5-15 minutes depending on the quality and brand of rice (cooking time varies significantly brand by brand). Add the spinach, stir, and cook until the spinach is tender and the rice is fully cooked through, another minute or two. Drain the rice and spinach through a colander and return to the pot. Cover to keep warm.

4. Meanwhile, make the kachumber: Combine the onion, lemon juice, chilis, tomatoes, and ½ teaspoon of the salt in a small bowl. Toss with a fork to combine, separating the onion rings. Let the kachumber sit at room temperature for at least 5 minutes, then chill until ready to serve.

5. Whisk the yogurt and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt in another small bowl. Taste and adjust to your preference. Chill until ready to serve.

6. For the stovetop assembly method, while the rice and chicken are both still warm, add the chicken to the pot with the rice and roughly toss to combine. There should be some rice stained by the chicken and some rice completely untouched.

7. For the oven method, preheat the oven to 325°F. Return to the rice and fluff it with a fork. Spread one-third of the rice over the bottom of a large (9 x 13–inch works well here) oven-safe serving bowl or casserole dish. Top with the chicken and finish with the remaining rice. Cover with foil and bake for 30-40 minutes, until the rice is warmed through and tender.

8. Top the dish with the reserved frizzled onions and serve with the salted yogurt and kachumber.

Recipe adapted from “Third Culture Cooking: Classic Recipes for a New Generation” by Zaynab Issa. Copyright © 2025. Used with permission of Abrams Books. All rights reserved.