My mom would make this for special occasions, like Eid, and served it on a big silver platter called a saniya.
As soon as it was time to eat, we would dive into the plate with our hands. After the meal, the tasty aroma of the dish would be on my skin, and no matter the number of times I washed my hands, it wouldn’t leave, and I was happy to remember the dish. Here I’m sharing my own recipe, filled with my mom’s bold and rich flavours— one that will surely make you want to dig in with your hands! This popular dish comes from the Swahili people who reside on the East African coast, from Uganda to Kenya, and including Tanzania. Their Arab influences are evident throughout the food and culture in the region and show up deliciously in this dish. My mom served this dish with yogurt curd, cabbage salad, and blended green chilli on the side.
Serves
6
Preparation time:
20 minutes
Cooking time
1 hour
Ingredients
FOR THE RICE
- 2½ cups (500g) basmati rice, washed
- and rinsed
- 3 cardamom pods
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 205g canned coconut cream
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- 1 cup (150g) raisins
FOR THE CHICKEN
- ¼ cup (60ml) vegetable or sunflower oil
- 4 whole cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
- 3 cardamom pods
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1kg chicken, cut into 6–8 pieces
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon garlic paste
- 2 finely grated carrots
- (for thickness and sweetness)
- 2 chicken bouillon (stock) cubes
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste (puree)
- ½ cup (120ml) plain yogurt
- salt, to taste
Directions
Fill a pot with 3 cups (750ml) of water and bring to a boil over medium–high heat. Add a drizzle of oil, then add the rice, cardamom pods, and cinnamon stick, and cook for 8–10 minutes, until the water is almost gone and the rice is almost dry.
Reduce the heat to low and stir in the coconut cream. After 2 minutes, add the ghee and raisins (set aside a few to garnish), then cover and steam on low heat for 15 minutes.
For the chicken, place a medium pot over medium heat and add the oil. Add all the whole spices (whole cloves, bay leaves, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, cardamom pods, and cinnamon stick) and cook for a little less than 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the ground spices (turmeric, paprika, and garam masala), then add the chicken pieces and stir to seal for about 5 minutes.
Add the ginger and garlic pastes followed by the grated carrots, and keep stirring gently. Add the chicken stock cubes and continue to stir until the flavours combine. Then add the tomato paste (puree) and 1 cup (240ml) of water and let it come to a boil.
Add salt to taste, then reduce the heat to low. Add the plain yogurt and stir, then let simmer for 25 minutes (the gravy has to be thick and rich and the chicken soft), or until the chicken is cooked through.
Plate the chicken on top of the rice, and sprinkle over the crispy onions. Serve with boiled eggs, and banana, and garnish with coriander and the reserved raisins.
TO SERVE
- 3 onions, julienned, fried until crispy
- 6 hard-boiled eggs, halved
- 6 ripe bananas, peeled and halved on the diagonal
- coriander to garnish
Recipe extracted from The Contemporary African Kitchen
by Alexander Smalls published by Phaidon, RRP $75.
On sale from 8 October.
