Kedjenou

Ingredients

• Chicken — in pieces1.4 kg
• Onions3
• Tomatoes5
• African aubergines200 g
• Bell pepper1
• Garlic5 clove
• Ginger30 g
• Scotch bonnet1
• Bay leaves2
• Thyme3 sprig
• Attiéké or rice — to serve400 g
• Salt and pepperto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Cut the onion, tomatoes, aubergines and pepper into large pieces.

   12 min

2. 2

   Put the chicken and all the vegetables into the pot with the garlic, ginger, thyme, bay, salt and pepper.

   8 min

3. 3

   Lay the whole scotch bonnet on top, uncut.

   2 min

4. 4

   Cover it and seal the join with a rope of flour-and-water dough, or wrap it in foil.

   6 min

5. 5

   Set it over the lowest heat or in a 160 °C oven for an hour and twenty.

   82 min

6. 6

   Every fifteen minutes shake the pot, holding the lid down. Do not open it once.

   5 min

7. 7

   Break the seal, remove the chilli and serve with attiéké or rice.

   6 min

About the dish

No water goes in at all: the chicken and vegetables cook in their own juices, sealed under a lid. That gives a concentration no broth-based stew reaches.

The canari pot is shaken periodically without being opened. The name kedjenou comes from that movement — "to shake" in Baoulé.

The lid is sealed with dough or wrapped in cloth. Any gap lets the steam out and the dish becomes an ordinary dry stew.

Worth knowing

• — Use plenty of tomatoes: they are the only source of liquid. Being sparing with them gives a burnt bottom.
• — It must not be opened, not even to check. The whole point is trapped steam, and one look inside costs the dish twenty minutes.
• — Without a clay pot, a cast-iron casserole with a tight lid does the job. The principle is the same — a seal and a low flame.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

520 kcal

Protein

44 g

Fat

20 g

Carbs

42 g

More from Ivory Coast

• Attiéké with fish — Steamed fermented cassava couscous with grilled fish and a sharp onion salad.