Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Dikgobe
Samp and beans (or sorghum) slow-cooked soft together into a filling one-pot, a staple of the Botswana table.
Motswana · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 120 min
~475 cal · 4g protein · 103g carbs · 8g fat · 3g fiber · 82g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Dikgobe is a traditional dish of Botswana, a combination of (coarsely crushed dried corn) and beans or cowpeas, slow-cooked together into a filling one-pot. It is cheap, filling, and about as everyday as food gets in Botswana.
The and beans are simmered slowly for a long time until both are tender and creamy and the flavours meld, seasoned simply with salt and sometimes a little onion. Some versions use instead of corn. Nutritious, filling, and naturally plant-based, it is served on its own or as a starchy side to meat.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
2 cups (crushed dried corn), soaked
1 1/2 cups sugar beans or cowpeas, soaked
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
Instructions
1
Rinse the soaked samp and beans and put them in a large pot with plenty of water.
2
Simmer slowly, topping up the water as needed, until both are tender.
✎ Chef’s note
This needs long, patient cooking; the samp in particular takes a couple of hours to turn soft and creamy, so do not rush it.
3
Stir in the onion and salt and cook until everything is soft and creamy.
4
Serve on its own or alongside a meat stew.
Botswana home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Gaborone. The kitchen follows the cattle. This is dry grazing country, so beef is the meat that matters and the grains are sorghum and maize rather than anything thirstier, while the greens arrive as morogo, wild leaves gathered off the veld and cooked down, rather than out of a market garden.
🗺️
Botswana. Botswana's food is shaped by the Kalahari and cattle country, seswaa (pounded slow-cooked beef), sorghum and maize porridge, and morogo wild greens. Simple, filling, and beef-forward, it centers the communal pot.
🌍
Africa. The structure repeats across most of the continent: one starch and one sauce. A grain or root is cooked stiff, torn or rolled by hand, and used to carry a stew of leaves, groundnut, okra or fish, usually from a shared bowl and with the right hand. UNESCO listings have followed that logic, inscribing couscous in 2020 as a shared Maghreb tradition and Ivorian attieke in 2024.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Botswana
Seswaa with PapBeef simmered for hours with little more than salt, then pounded into rich shreds, Botswana’s dish of weddings and state occasions.
DiphaphathaSoft Botswana griddle breads: quick, dense little flatbread rounds cooked in a dry pan and split with butter or jam for breakfast.
MotogoBotswana's soft morning sorghum porridge, stirred smooth over a low fire and eaten with sugar and a pour of milk or tangy madila.
Browse all Botswana recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Thickens as it sits. Reheat with extra water or milk to loosen, and keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Dikgobe?
Samp and beans (or sorghum) slow-cooked soft together into a filling one-pot, a staple of the Botswana table.
Where does Dikgobe come from?
Dikgobe is a Motswana dish from Gaborone, Botswana.
Can Dikgobe be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Dikgobe recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Dikgobe safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Dikgobe take to make?
About 135 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 120 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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