or (

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

) or (Congo -

DRC The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

and the Congo Republic) is a traditional African

swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...

made of

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

flour whisked into boiling water. It can also be made with

sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

, maize, or

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

. It can be served with textured vegetable, fish, or meat stew, as well as other vegetable, meat, and fish dishes. ''Funge'' is a

staple food A staple food, food staple, or simply staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for an individual or a population group, supplying a large fraction of energy needs an ...

African cuisine African cuisine is an integral part of the continent's diverse cultures reflecting its long and complex history. The evolution of African cuisine is closely entwined with the lives of the native people, influenced by their religious practices, ...

. Some richer and more flavorful versions may be made with stock, like fish stock, instead of water. It is also known as (literally "food"). Funge is eaten with the fingers, and a small ball of it can be dipped into an accompanying stew, side dish or sauce. Funge is a traditional staple in

Angolan cuisine Angolan cuisine has many dishes popular among nationals and foreigners, including ''funge'' (which is made from cassava or corn flour), '':pt:Mufete, mufete'' (grilled fish, plantain, sweet potato, cassava, and ''garri, gari''), '':pt:calulu, cal ...

. In the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...

, a similar food is known as ''fungi'' or ''

cou-cou Cou-cou, coo-coo (as it is known in the Windward Islands), or fungee (as it is known in the Leeward Islands and Dominica), makes up part of the national dishes of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands ...

''. In Ghana there are two variations, usually made with ground corn, though the variation known as '' banku'' is sometimes made from a mixture of grated cassava and corn. The corn is allowed to ferment before it is cooked. To make ''banku'' the fermented mixture is cooked in a pot, but the variation called ''

kenkey Kenkey (also known as kɔmi, otim, kooboo or dorkunu) is a staple swallow food similar to sourdough dumplings from the Ga and Fante-inhabited regions of West Africa, usually served with pepper crudaiola and fried fish, soup or stew. Des ...

'' is only partially cooked before it is wrapped in

banana leaves The banana leaf is the leaf of the banana plant, which may produce up to 40 leaves in a growing cycle. The leaves have a wide range of applications because they are large, flexible, waterproof and decorative. They are used for cooking, wrappin ...

or corn husks and steamed. In

Brazilian cuisine Brazilian cuisine is the set of cooking practices and traditions of Brazil, and is characterized by European cuisine, European, Amerindian, African tribes, African, and Asian (Levantine cuisine, Levantine, Japanese food, Japanese, and most rece ...

, a similar dish made with cassava flour and fish stock is known as .

References

Angolan cuisine Cassava dishes Fermented foods Ghanaian cuisine Swallows (food) {{Ghana-cuisine-stub