How to Cook Cassava: Boiled, Fried and Cassava Fufu (UAE Guide)

By the Mekazon Kitchen · 23 September 2026

Ask a Ugandan in Dubai what they miss most and, sooner or later, the answer is a plate of muwogo: hot boiled cassava, soft and slightly sweet, with a spoon of groundnut sauce running into it. Learning how to cook cassava properly is the whole secret: peel it right, boil it right, and the same root becomes breakfast, a fried snack or a smooth cassava fufu. Here is how we do it at home in the UAE, plus where to buy cassava in Dubai.

Sweet or bitter: know your cassava

Cassava (also called yuca, mogo or muwogo) is a long, brown-barked root with chalk-white flesh and a woody cord running down the centre. It came to Africa from South America centuries ago and is now one of the continent's most important staples; the Ewe name for it, agbeli, means "there is life". There is a lovely Ugandan chapter on it in the open cookbook Mujje Tulye from Uganda.

Cassava comes in two families. Sweet cassava is what you buy fresh for the kitchen: it only needs peeling and a good boil. Bitter cassava is the field variety that must be soaked, fermented and dried before it can be eaten, which is exactly how garri and traditional cassava flour are made. The FAO's guide to processing roots and tubers explains those village methods in detail. The fresh roots and the flours we stock are the sweet, ready-to-cook kind, so the rules below are all you need.

How to peel and boil cassava

Peeling is easier than it looks. Cut the root into hand-length pieces, stand each piece on the board and run a knife down the length to score the bark. Then slip the knife under the edge and the whole brown skin, together with the pinkish layer beneath it, lifts away in one sheet. Always peel all of it; the flesh should be pure white. Split each piece lengthways and pull out the woody cord.

Rinse the pieces, put them in a pot with cold salted water to cover, bring to the boil and cook uncovered for twenty-five to forty minutes until a knife slides in with no resistance and the pieces start to split at the edges. Drain well and throw the cooking water away. Serve hot with groundnut sauce (binyebwa), a beef stew made with Royco Mchuzi Mix, or a pot of Ugandan beans. In many Ugandan homes the cassava is steamed in banana leaves next to matooke instead of boiled; the timing is the same.

Katogo, the Kampala breakfast

Katogo is boiled cassava and beans cooked together in one pot with fried onion, tomato and a little curry powder. Boil the beans first, add the cassava for the last fifteen minutes, then stir in the fried onion and tomato and let it all heat through. It is the Kampala breakfast that carries you through to the evening.

Fried cassava chips (the smart way)

The best fried cassava is boiled first. Cook the peeled pieces until just tender, drain, and let them steam-dry on a plate for ten minutes. Cut into thick chips, then deep-fry in hot oil for five to seven minutes until golden and crisp at the edges. Salt at once and shake over some ground cayenne pepper or squeeze a lime over them. This is the street-corner mogo of Kampala and Mombasa, and it disappears fast.

How to make cassava fufu with cassava flour

Cassava fufu (in Uganda the flour is mingled on its own or with millet into kalo) is a smooth, stretchy swallow made from flour rather than fresh root. Bring three cups of water to a rolling boil in a heavy pot. Take a cup of the water out and set it aside. Pour in two cups of Kalilou cassava flour all at once and stir hard with a wooden mingling stick, pressing lumps against the side of the pot. When it comes together, add the reserved water a little at a time, stirring and folding until the dough is smooth, glossy and pulls away from the pot. Cover and let it steam on the lowest heat for three minutes, then turn it out and shape into a ball with a wet bowl.

For the classic Ugandan mix, use Numa Karo millet and cassava flour the same way; the millet gives the darker, nuttier kalo that western Uganda swears by. If your household leans West African, the Cassava Flour UAE pack works for fufu and lafun, and yellow garri makes eba in under five minutes. Our newest arrival, Africa Queen Plantain Fufu, is the shortcut for a weeknight.

Where to buy cassava in Dubai and the UAE

Mekazon delivers fresh cassava root by the kilo across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the northern emirates. Pick it with the rest of a proper Ugandan basket: Ugandan sweet potatoes, raw groundnuts for the sauce and mukene for a fried side. Browse the Uganda fresh produce and Uganda flour and grains collections, or the full Uganda shop. Our customers in Al Nahda and Karama reorder the fresh roots every week.

Frequently asked questions

How long does fresh cassava keep?
Whole roots keep for two to three days at room temperature or up to a week in the fridge. Once peeled, cover the pieces in water in the fridge and cook within two days, or freeze peeled pieces for up to three months and boil them from frozen, adding ten minutes.

Why does my boiled cassava taste bitter or feel hard?
Usually the root was old or the pinkish under-skin was left on. Choose firm roots with no grey streaks in the flesh, peel deeply, and cut out any dark or fibrous parts before boiling.

Can I make fufu from fresh cassava instead of flour?
Yes. Boil the peeled root until very soft, remove the cord, and pound or blend it with a splash of the cooking water until smooth and stretchy. Flour is quicker and gives a more even texture.

Ready for a proper plate of muwogo this week? Shop Ugandan groceries at Mekazon, delivered to your door anywhere in the UAE.