Burkina Faso – Burkinabe ‘one pot’ Chicken & rice, with peanut Yams.

  

Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa surrounded by six countries, Mali to the north, Niger to the east; Benin to the southeast; Togo and Ghana to the south; and the Ivory Coast to the southwest.  Formerly known as Upper Volta this interesting nation was renamed Burkina Faso was  the 1980’s.  Finding recipes for Burkina Faso proved quite a challenge. 

The reason why I found it hard to find a recipe is quite sad  & a reality check for those of us who live in privileged countries where food is fresh & plentiful. Burkina Faso has significant food security issues that are made worse by it being a land-locked country without access to the rich food resources of the African coast. The people of Burkina Faso suffer under the sadness of living in a country with one of the World’s highest infant mortality rates. Burkina Faso also has one of the lowest life expectancy rates on the planet; so if you are over 50 you probably don’t live in Burkina Faso.

My research tells me that meat is a special occasion food in Burkina Faso & ‘every day’ Burkinabe food is made up of tasty sauces poured over basic grains such as millet with vegetables like yams & okra being staple foods. I also found  recipes that ‘re-cycle’ cooked meat into dishes such as meat balls; which shows the resourcefulness of Burkinabe cuisine to make another dinner from the left-overs. I remember my Mum teaching me how to grind up left-over roast meat to make fried patties such as these. We may be ‘food rich’ in the western World today but we only have to look in the recipe books of our parents & grandparents to realise that this is a modern blessing.

This meal actually took quite a lot of labour & time to prepare; around two hours with quite a few of us cooking. It's the kind of food that takes a family working together. The flavours of this Birkinabe meal were sensational & the food was bountiful; it will feed 6 hungry people plus some. And the left-over Chicken-rice was even better the next day when re-heated!!

our menu included

Burkinabe ‘one pot’ Chicken & rice 

with 

peanut Yams

BURKINABE ‘ONE POT’ CHICKEN & RICE

INGREDIENTS:

·      4 cups rice (washed)

·      1kg chicken meat (either chicken portions or cubed meat)

·      3 chicken stock cubes

·      6 garlic cloves

·      6 fresh Chillies

·      1 ½  onion, finely chopped

·      6 tomatoes, chopped

·      8 tbsp tomato purée

·      Peanut Oil for frying (about 125 ml)

·      Salt and black pepper, to taste

·      2 ltr water

METHOD:

1.     Grind the Onion, Chillies, Garlic & tomatoes in processor/mortar and pestle to make a paste

2.     Pour peanut  oil into a large pot/small stock pot, add the prepared chilli & tomato paste & cook on medium heat for 8 minutes

3.     Whilst paste is cooking, use a little water to wash the processor bowl/mortar out & pour this liquid into a large frying pan & add chicken meat

4.     Bring pan of chicken & liquid to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes

5.     Transfer the meat & liquid to the pot containing the chilli and tomatoes and stir in the tomato purée

6.     Add the water and the stock cubes & stir it as you bring to a gentle boil

7.     Add the rice & return to the boil. Don’t stop stirring or the pot will burn & stick

8.     Turn the heat to lowest point, cover and cook for 15 minutes

9.     Lift of the lid briefly & stir mixture well, if pot is dry of liquid add a little more (perhaps 500 ml), recover & cook for a further 10 minutes (all the water should be absorbed)

10.  When finished switch heat off & leave dish covered until ready to serve

I found the recipe for Burkinabe Riz Gras (Fat Rice with chicken) which I have adapted into the One Pot Chicken recipe at  www.myhungrytum.com.

BAKED YAMS  with Spicy WEST AFRICAN PEANUT SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:

·      6 Yams (Australian orange sweet potato/New Zealand Kumera)

·      peanut oil

·      ground salt

SAUCE INGREDIENTS:

·      1 tablespoon (15 ml) peanut oil

·      1 onion, finely chopped

·      1 tablespoon (15 ml) peeled and grated fresh ginger

·      2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

·      1 teaspoons (5 ml) ground cumin

·      1 teaspoons (5 ml) ground coriander

·      1 teaspoon (5 ml) cinnamon

·      1whole chilli, finely chopped.

·      1 cup (250 ml) chicken stock

·      2 tablespoons (30 ml) tomato paste

·      ¼ cup (60 ml) peanut butter

·      1 teaspoon (5 ml) sugar

·      ¼ teaspoon (1 ml) salt

·      Lemon juice (optional)

METHOD:

1.     Peel & slice Yam into 12 ml rounds & bake in medium oven on trays prepared with peanut oil & ground salt

2.     Cook for about 20 mins then turn over & repeat – keep warm until ready to serve

PEANUT SAUCE:

1.     Heat oil in a medium-sized skillet on low to medium heat.

2.     Sauté onion until it starts to become translucent, add garlic and sauté for another minute or two.

3.     Add the rest of the ingredients

4.     Stir until smooth & Simmer until the mixture thickened

5.     To serve lay roasted yams in dish & cover with sauce

The peanut Yam recipe is a combination of  my own food knowledge & recipes found at http://www.rainbowcooking.co.nz/recipes/baked-butternut-with-spicy-west-african-peanut-sauce & http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/baked-sweet-potatoes-with-west-african-style-peanut-sauce-10000001536675/