Rougaille de Saucisse

This is a wonderful dish and a staple of every Mauritian home. As Kraft noodles is comfort food to North Americans so is a rougaille the comfort food of all Mauritian kids. As I was brought up by Mauritian parents I have eaten many rougailles. I highly recommend it as a winter dish for family and friends.

Rougailles translates into tomato garlic sauce. A bit like a marinara but with serious attitude. Saucisses is French for sausage. Now this recipe is flexible, allows for creative genius and is very easy. The basic ingredients are Onions, Tomatoes, Spices and a meat of sorts and even boiled eggs. Here is my starter recipe with the ingredients in order of use:

• 4 Tbs of olive oil. I sometimes will use ½ olive oil and ½ ghee. I also am a little more liberal with fat as I see it as an essential part of the flavour of a dish.
• 2 Large onions chopped coarsely ¾ inch pieces.
• 200 to 300 grams of okra cut into ½ inch pieces
• 200 to 300 grams of zucchini cut into ¾ inch cubes
• 200 to 300 grams of eggplant cut into ¾ inch cubes
• 200 grams of celery cut into ¼ inch pieces. Take it from the leafy part.
• 1 red pepper cut into ¾ inch pieces.
• 1 jalapeno chilly finely chopped. More if you like it hot or leave it out.
• 1 Tbs of mustard seeds.
• 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh thyme finely chopped
• 10 curry leaves if you know where to get them. This is optional.
• 1 Tbs of chicken or vegetable stock powder. Knorr is good.
• 2 inches of finely chopped ginger.
• 1 kg of Honey Garlic sausage.
  Now this can be substituted for chicken, pork, duck, squid, octopus, boiled eggs or left plain vegetarian. If using meat cut into bite size portions. If using octopus it is best to tenderize it by pressure cooking first. Eggs should be hard boiled, peeled, cut in half and added  after all the ingredients. This is a superb vegan dish, if cooked without meat eggs or butter, that will earn you compliments.
• 1 kg of canned tomatoes chopped coarsely.

• 1 heaped Tbs of cumin
• 1 heaped Tbs of coriander seeds
• 1 level Tbs of coarse salt
• 1 level Tbs of black or mixed peppercorns
• 5 to 8 cloves of garlic.
  Put all of this into your mortar and crush into paste. You don’t have a pestle and mortar? Well use the food processor and the next time you visit you favourite ethnic store buy a good stone pestle and mortar. It is essential for nearly all ethnic dishes as crushing is much better for flavours than chopping in a food processor. There is no comparison.

Fry the onions on a medium low heat till soft and translucent. Add all the vegetables, with the exception of the tomatoes, and keep stirring for about 5 to 6 minutes. Add the tomatoes, meat and the spices and 1 a cup of water, stir and put a lid on and let simmer on a low heat for ten minutes. Add your fresh herbs and taste.

Your vegetables should be soft to al dente; the sauce should be rich and tangy. If you feel it lacks salt then mix the stock powder with ½ cup of water and add a little at a time to the pot, stir and taste until you are satisfied.

Now at this point you have a decision to make. If the meat is cooked through and the vegetables have the right texture for your taste then you might consider the dish done. I like the vegetables to be softer and more like a sauce without being too mushy. In that case return the lid and cook for another 10 minutes.

Serve this dish with basmati rice, lentils and chapattis. Garnish with cilantro leaves. One last word, when you read a recipe don’t feel obliged to make it exactly to the letter. Remember the essence of this dish is to create a rich, tangy and spicy sauce in which in which onions and tomatoes are the key ingredients and to which you are going to add a meat. The dish won’t fall apart if you don’t have cumin or okra or red peppers. You can even substitute basil for thyme and use dried if you do not have fresh. It is nice to have chapattis but who has them on hand? It won’t make a big difference if you do not have them.

Please let me know if you have tried this dish and what you think.