Cameroon: Le Directeur Général Chicken with N’JammaJamma Greens

 

Sitting on the World’s equator at the crossroads between North, West and Central Africa, Cameroon is nicknamed ‘Little Africa’ because its rich cultural and geographic diversity mirrors Africa. Almost every African landscape is found in Cameroon including lush tropical rainforest, rugged mountain ranges, active volcanos, the vast Congo River Basin, humid savanna grass lands, desert plains bordering the Sahara, and a strip of Atlantic Ocean coastline. Within these varied landscapes live more than 200 distinct Indigenous ethnic groups, each with their own language, culture, customs, history, stories and cuisine. 

 

With so much cultural diversity in Cameroon it is not surprising that it has one of the most varied cuisines in Africa. Hundreds of  African culinary traditions have operated independently and alongside each other for many years and have intermingled over time producing a unique marriage of African food practices. But there is a darker side to the variety in Cameroonian food culture and it begins with the arrival of Portuguese sailors out of the Atlantic  in 1472. 

 

The Portuguese introduced Cameroonians to ‘New World’ foods from The Americas (such as tomato, banana and capsicums/peppers), and these foods  were welcomed. In fact, several centuries later they are  key ingredients in the cuisine of Cameroon. But, not everything that arrived in Cameroon with the first Europeans was as welcomed as the tomato. European slave-traders came too and they began buying enslaved Cameroonians and transporting them across the Atlantic to re-sell them in  The Americas. The transatlantic slave trade inflicted immeasurable suffering on millions of innocent Cameroonians over several centuries and is among the longest and most widespread human tragedies in history. 

 

And there’s more to this story. Germany, the United Kingdom and France all colonised Cameroon in the 19^th and 20^th centuries and this led to European cooking methods  being adopted into Cameroonian food culture. Cameroon finally shook off the shackles of colonialism and became an independent nation in 1960 and over half a century later it is the culinary influence of the French that appears to remain. Cameroonian cuisine is a subtle cuisine that is nuanced and layered with flavours. They have taken the best of what was offered but never forgotten the recipes that their old people cooked.

our

CAMEROONIAN

Menu included

 

LE DIRECTEUR GÉNÉRAL CHICKEN

with

N’JAMMAJAMMA GREENS

and

COCONUT RICE

served with

French Baguette 

 

LE DIRECTEUR GÉNÉRAL CHICKEN

Also know as DG Poulet this dish is famously cooked for the ‘big boss’ or  special guest. Slices of baguette are a wonderful way to  mop up the sauce.  

 

Ingredients:

·      1.5 kg chicken thighs and legs (or a whole chicken cut up into pieces)

·      1 tsp paprika

·      Cayenne pepper powder (to taste - optional)

·      2 chicken stock/bouillon cubes

·      1 large onion peeled and chopped roughly

·      3 large tomatoes, chopped (or 1 x 400gm tin crushed tomatoes)

·      4 large cloves garlic, peeled and roughly crushed

·      2cm fresh ginger root, peeled and diced (or 1 tsp ground ginger powder)

·      1 bunch fresh Coriander (cilantro) washed and picked off the stem

·      2 stems green onion / shallot, roughly chopped

·      2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes

·      1 large red bell pepper (capsicum) cut in 1 cm cubes

·      2 celery stalks, cut into 1 cm cubes 

·      2-3  tbs vegetable oil (peanut or olive)

·      salt and pepper to taste

·      3 fresh bay leaves

·      1 or more habanero hot chilli to taste (optional)

·      1 cup fresh green beans, diced

·      2 large ripe plantain (or 3 firm banana), peeled and cut into 1 cm slices

Method:

1.     Season chicken pieces with paprika, cayenne,  salt and pepper 

2.     Make a stock by mixing the bouillon cubes with 1 ½  cups boiling water

3.     Make a tomato sauce in the blender. Put the onion in first and blitz for 30 seconds, then add in the tomato, onion, green onion, garlic, ginger, coriander a blitz for a minute

4.     Heat the oil in a large heavy bottom pan (eg Dutch oven) and brown chicken on all sides in the hot oil then remove and set aside

5.     Re-heat the pan, add a bit more oil if needed and briefly sauté the bell pepper, carrots and celery stirring often for 5 mins

6.     Place the chicken back in the pot on top of the vegetables, pour the stock and tomato sauce over the top pop in the bay leaves and whole habanero if you are using it then slowly bring the pot to the boil

7.     Simmer the pot until chicken is almost cooked (about 35 mins) stirring often to stop the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pan. If too much fat for your liking begins pooling on top of the sauce skim it off and discard

8.     When chicken is almost cooked give the ingredients a good stir then add the green beans and plantain

9.     Scoop some of the sauce over the beans and plantain and simmer the pot for a further 10 mins, stirring occasionally until the sauce is thick and the chicken is cooked 

N’JAMMAJAMMA GREENS

 

Ingredients:

·      6 cups African nightshade leaves (or spinach, chard, collards or kale)

·      2 tbs vegetable oil (I used olive oil)

·      1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

·      3 garlic cloves, crushed

·      1 cup chicken stock (or 2 stock cubes dissolved in 1 cup of boiled water)

·      fresh chilli pepper, whole or sliced or cayenne powder to taste – optional

Method:

1.     Wash and drain the greens then remove hard stems and chop the greens

2.     Heat oil in a large pot and sauté the onions for a few minutes  on medium 

3.     Now add the garlic and sauté without browning until onion is glazed 

4.     Add the whole chilli or chilli powder now and fry for a few minutes

5.     Stir the chopped greens in now and stir over medium heat briefly

6.     Pour in the chicken stock and cook on medium to hot heat stirring often until greens are tender and stock has evaporated, about 20 minutes

 

COCONUT RICE

 

Ingredients:

·      2 cup basmati rice

·      4 cups coconut milk (or 2 x  400 ml cans coconut milk and 200ml water)

·      ½ tsp salt

 

Method:

1.     Combine the rice, coconut milk and salt in a medium/large pot (that has a tight-fitting lid) and stir it all well with a wooden/bamboo spoon 

2.     Bring the pot to the boil stirring often and scrapping the bottom of the pot with the spoon to stop the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot

3.      Once the liquid is boiling give it a last stir and turn the heat down to low, put a lid on the pot and cook for 10 minutes on low

4.     Now turn the heat off (don’t remove the lid until ready to serve), and leave the pot to sit on the cooling element for another 10 minutes

5.     When ready to serve, remove the lid and fluff the rice with the spoon

 

 

These are all  Q-ZINE original recipes informed by multiple sources including:

 

https://www.theafricangourmet.com/2018/02/damn-good-cameroon-dg-chicken-recipe.html

https://www.africanbites.com/chicken-stew-african-style/

 https://africanchow.com/blogs/recipes/dg-poulet-cameroon

https://www.africanbites.com/fried-plantains/

https://www.africanbites.com/savory-coconut-rice/

https://www.africanbites.com/creole-seasoning/

http://www.congocookbook.com/vegetable-and-side-dish-recipes/njamma-jamma/

https://sites.google.com/a/africancooking.org/www/Recipes/njamajamacameroongreenvegetables