Each night on Lake Tanganyika, wooden fishing boats set out after dark carrying bright paraffin lamps. The light attracts clouds of ndagala to the surface, and fishermen scoop them up in fine nets. By dawn the boats are loaded, and the fish are spread out on mats on the lakeshore to dry in the morning sun.
Dried ndagala can be eaten whole — bones and all — because they are so small the bones are perfectly soft and harmless. They are crispy, slightly salty, and full of flavour. Children often snack on them like crisps, and they are stirred into bean stews or eaten as a side dish with ugali to add protein and a wonderful taste of the lake.
Ndagala are only found in Lake Tanganyika, which makes them very special. Because the lake is so old and so deep, the fish living in it have evolved uniquely over millions of years. Ndagala belong to a group of fish called 'sardine-like lake fish' that evolved entirely within Tanganyika and exist nowhere else in the world.