Colleagues Get Together and a Ghanaian Light Stew

 

So in Kakuma we tend to live for parties and sometimes there too many parties; a farewell party, a birthday, a bridal/ baby shower, just for the sake of it party etc. So at the end of last year we had one of those “just because we can have a party” party. It was the end of the year and we convinced our boss, who is Ghanaian, to make us some fufu.

Now let me explain something about our office just like any office it is divided into sections or us we call them units. So there is; registration, administration, eligibility, field, resettlement etc I work for the Resettlement Unit so when I say “WE” I meant my resettlement colleagues and I enjoy working in resettlement my colleagues are a pretty decent lot. We all tend to like alcohol and the bar and sometimes you’d find every single one of us in the bar including the boss, pretty cool I think. There was even a time last year we kept teasing the boss that we should change our weekly unit meeting to 11pm on Fridays and instead of distributing chocolate we should distribute beers. We are a pretty cohesive unit, like a small family with lots of dramas but we love each other anyway. It’s great.

Anyway, I digress, so we convinced our boss to make us fufu so that we do one last thing before the year ends as a unit. It was a good night. I learnt how to make fufu and a Ghanaian chicken stew from Andrea, my boss. We had good food, laughs and lots to drink. The stew was very spicy and quite different from our stews which most West Africans call bland so maybe you can try this and serve with ugali or matoke once in a while when you feel like a stew with a kick. Andreas said that the fuf we had was not the real thing as it comes from a packet while what they have back home is pounded from yams or plantains so I did not bother to write down the instructions for that not only coz its “fake” fufu but also because the flour is not locally available. HAPPY COOKING!!

 

marinate the chicken in an onion paste (onion, ginger and garlic)

marinate the chicken in an onion paste (onion, ginger and garlic)

Once you steam the chicken and your ready to start cooking puree all the tomatoes and  half bulb garlic

Once you steam the chicken and your ready to start cooking puree all the tomatoes and half bulb garlic

-Blend the remaining 1 onion. Add some oil in a big pot and add the onion puree. Fry for a few minutes then chillies then add the tomato puree and paste if using. Fry for about 5 minutes. Add about a half a cup of water and let it boil. Once it comes to a boil add the chicken stock that you had earlier reserved. The amount of chicken stock you will use will depend on the amount of soup you want.
-After the soup has come to a boil, taste for seasoning. Add anything you feel is lacking eg chillies, garlic, salt etc. then add the chicken. Reduce the heat let it boil for about 10 minutes.

 

 

Bob trying VERY had to make the fufu but he did not succeed, it was too hard for him

Bob trying VERY had to make the fufu but he did not succeed, it was too hard for him

 

then the expert showed him how its done

then the expert showed him how its done

 

 

the fufu

the fufu

 

 

Fufu served with chicken stew

Fufu served with chicken stew

 

Colleagues Get Together and a Ghanaian Light Stew

Prep Time: 2 hours

Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes

Yield: 4-6

Ingredients

  1. 1 chicken (preferably kienyeji/ road runner) cut into pieces
  2. 1.5 bulb garlic, plus extra if needed
  3. 3 onions
  4. Thumb size piece of ginger
  5. 6 tomatoes
  6. 1-2 tablespoons tomato paste (optional)
  7. 3-6 red chillies
  8. Oil to fry

Instructions

Put the 1 bulb garlic, 2 onions and the ginger in a blender and blitz to make a smooth paste.

Marinate the chicken in this mixture for at least 2 hours but up to overnight.

Once you are ready to start cooking, blend the remaining onion to a smooth paste, and also separately blend the tomatoes and remaining garlic together to form a smooth paste.

Place the chicken in a large pot. Some water to it, maybe till half the chicken in covered. Place under medium heat and steam till the chicken is basically cooked. This could take anything from 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on how tough the meat of your chicken is. Once this is done remove the chicken from the stock, reserve the stock.

Blend the remaining 1 onion. Add some oil in a big pot and add the onion puree. Fry for a few minutes then chillies then add the tomato puree and paste if using. Fry for about 5 minutes. Add about a half a cup of water and let it boil. Once it comes to a boil add the chicken stock that you had earlier reserved. The amount of chicken stock you will use will depend on the amount of soup you want.

After the soup has come to a boil, taste for seasoning. Add anything you feel is lacking eg chillies, garlic, salt etc. then add the chicken. Reduce the heat let it boil for about 10 minutes.

Serve hot over matoke, ugali or fufu if available

HAPPY EATING!!

https://www.themothershipvillage.com/colleagues-get-together-and-a-ghanaian-light-stew/

 

4 Comments

  • Lydz January 28, 2013 at 9:04 PM

    I have only ever eaten fufu made from cassava. The WA probably find EA and SA food bland because we don’t add maggi, scotch bonnet peppers and palm oil into everything! Western cuisine is bland by WA standards i don’t hear them complain about that, ok rant over lol I gave up when this chick added pepper to sausage roll dough like seriously? Personally i prefer a cuisine where each meal is different from the next in terms of spices and i find that lacking a lot in WA cuisine needless to say i do enjoy their dishes and can make some lived in that part of the world for sometime. Is there a way you can add a subscribe to follow up comments to your comment section so i get an email alert for replies? Thanks

    • Wangeci Wandere January 29, 2013 at 8:20 AM

      The fufu powder/flour i have is made from a mixture of yams and plantains, its quite tasty. I haven’t tasted the real thing tho. Actually the guys here complain abt the western food too. But also I imagine that when they do go out to eat continental food they expect the blandness and not so much from other african foods perhaps, BUT the ones here say that they know kenyan food is like thats o they have learned to adapt. Lol @adding pepper to dough thats taking it a bit too far, she wud even have added it to the sausage!! I generally like spicy food, of course a variety but food that has character makes me happy.

      About the comments I have actually been wondering how to do that!! let me do my research i think I need a new comments plugin

      • Lydz January 31, 2013 at 9:26 PM

        Speaking of WA and our mrenda/okra chat the other day i just remembered an Okra heavy West African and American dish. WA its called Okra soup and in America (Southern Louisiana origins) Gumbo just Google them for recipes am hopeless with giving measurements lol. Different WA countries prepare it differently but the basic is a nyama stew of sorts full of chopped okra and of course pilipili kwa wingi. I love love love Okra soup with ugali its like comfort food for me.

        • Wangeci Wandere February 1, 2013 at 12:17 AM

          I googled the gumbo thing after I saw it on the princess and the frog, I’m not sure i like okra its so slimy….but i cooked it once with beef stew it wasnt soo bad, i think haina taste really it picks the taste of the spices. maybe ill try it out one day

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