Africa → Madagascar → Analamanga (Antananarivo)
🥙 LUNCH

Ravitoto sy Henakisoa

Pounded cassava leaves slow-cooked with pork, garlic, and ginger, one of Madagascar's best-known dishes.
Malagasy · medium · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 75 min
~567 cal · 50g protein · 12g carbs · 34g fat · 5g fiber · 2g sugars · 10g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Dark pounded cassava leaves cooked with pork
AI-generated illustration
Ravitoto sy henakisoa, pounded leaves with pork, is one of Madagascar's most cherished and iconic dishes, deeply woven into everyday life and celebration alike. Earthy, rich, and comforting, it is the taste of the Malagasy highlands.
Young leaves are pounded to a rough green paste and cooked down slowly with chunks of pork, garlic, and ginger until soft, dark, and deeply savoury, the pork fat enriching the greens. It is often finished with a little coconut in coastal versions. Served with a mound of rice, the staple that Malagasy eat at nearly every meal, and sometimes a spoon of fiery sakay chili, it is plain, filling home food.
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Make it yours

✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg- and nut-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
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

Serves 4
  • 1 1/2 lb pork shoulder, cubed
  • 1 lb leaves (or spinach), pounded
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 tbsp oil

Instructions

  • 1
    Brown the pork with the onion, garlic, and ginger.
  • 2
    Add the pounded cassava leaves and a little water, and cook down slowly.
    ✎ Chef’s note
    Cook the greens long and low with the pork so they turn soft, dark, and rich; ravitoto is meant to be dense and deeply cooked, not fresh and bright.
  • 3
    Simmer until the pork is tender and the greens are dark and thick.
  • 4
    Season and serve with rice and a little chili.
Malagasy highland tradition.

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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination

📍
Analamanga (Antananarivo). The green that makes romazava what it is is anamalaho, also sold as bredes mafana, which contains spilanthol and leaves a light tingling numbness on the tongue. Rice is not a side dish here either: the average Malagasy eats around 150 kilos of it a year, more than half of daily calories.
🗺️
Madagascar. Romazava carries a surprise for anyone who has not met it. Among its greens is bredes mafana, whose leaves and flower buds leave a tingling numbness on the tongue, closer to Sichuan pepper than to anything else in the pot. Madagascar is also the world's leading producer of vanilla, which the island exports rather than cooks with.
🌍
Africa. Africa's fifty-four nations hold cuisines as different as Morocco's slow-cooked tagines and South Africa's open-fire braai, yet shared threads run through them: ancient grains like millet, sorghum, and teff; stews thickened with groundnut, okra, or palm; and fiery condiments from Tunisian harissa to Ethiopian berbere. Staple starches, fufu, injera, ugali, couscous, anchor communal meals often eaten by hand from a shared dish, where hospitality is a point of honor.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.

More from Madagascar

RomazavaMadagascar’s national broth: zebu beef and mixed leafy greens with ginger and tomato, ladled over rice.
Mofo GasySlightly sweet fermented rice-flour cakes griddled in round moulds, "Malagasy bread" for breakfast.
Koba AkondroA dense steamed cake of banana, ground peanuts, and rice flour wrapped in banana leaf, a Malagasy street sweet.
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Good to know

Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.

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Frequently asked questions

What is Ravitoto sy Henakisoa?

Pounded cassava leaves slow-cooked with pork, garlic, and ginger, one of Madagascar's best-known dishes.

Where does Ravitoto sy Henakisoa come from?

Ravitoto sy Henakisoa is a Malagasy dish from Analamanga (Antananarivo), Madagascar.

Can Ravitoto sy Henakisoa be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?

This Ravitoto sy Henakisoa recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.

Is Ravitoto sy Henakisoa 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 still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), 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 Ravitoto sy Henakisoa take to make?

About 95 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 75 minutes cooking), serving 4.

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