Maonions is the Shona chicken-gizzards-and-onions stew — gizzards, livers, and hearts slow-cooked with abundant sliced onions, tomato, and garlic into a rich, savory, oniony gravy. It is the offcut dish of the township butchery, eaten with sadza, prized for the deep flavor that giblets give the sauce.
Maonions (a Shona-English portmanteau for 'meat and onions' or 'many onions') is the township butchery stew of Zimbabwe, made from chicken giblets (gizzards, livers, hearts) or sometimes beef offal. In the high-density suburbs, offal is the affordable protein, and the long onion-rich stew turns these tough cuts into something prized. The onions melt into the gravy, giving it sweetness and body. It is the dish of the shebeen (informal bar) and the family gathering, always served with sadza.
A bowl of glossy, onion-rich gravy with tender chunks of gizzard (firm, chewy) and liver (soft, mineral). The onions have melted to a sweet jam; the tomato gives a tang. The gizzard has the best chew of any cut. Eat it with sadza, mopping the gravy.
Gizzards are a tough, lean muscle and need long cooking (45+ minutes) to become tender — fast cooking makes them rubbery. They go in first, with the livers added in the last 10 minutes (livers overcook to chalk). The onions are cooked slowly until they collapse to a jam, which sweetens and thickens the gravy. A pinch of curry powder is the township touch.
Variations
Some use beef tripe instead; some add curry powder; some include chicken feet; some finish with chopped cilantro.
On the Palate
Where Maonions sits in the Zimbabwean flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 40 min active + 35 min waiting
- 15 min
Clean 500 g chicken gizzards; trim away the yellow lining; halve each.
- 210 min
In a pot, soften 3 large sliced onions in sunflower oil 10 minutes, until very soft and starting to caramelize.
Watch outCook the onions slow and long until they collapse to a jammy, golden sweetness — this is what thickens and sweetens the whole gravy; rush them and it stays thin and sharp.
- 32 min
Add 4 minced garlic cloves; cook 2 minutes.
- 45 min
Add 3 diced tomatoes; cook 5 minutes.
- 545 min
Add the gizzards, 1 tsp curry powder, and 300 ml water; simmer covered 45 minutes, until gizzards are tender.
Watch outGive the gizzards their full slow simmer until fork-tender — pull them early and they stay tough and rubbery, this is the make-or-break of the dish.
- 68 min
Add 300 g chicken livers; cook 8 minutes (do not overcook).
Watch outAdd the livers only for the last stretch and watch them — a few minutes over and they turn dry and chalky.
- 73 min
Adjust salt; rest 3 minutes.
- 81 min
Serve with sadza.
