BENIN - CHICKEN IN TOMATO SAUCE WITH SMOKED FISH, CRAB CALALOU, BAY LEAF RICE & FRESH CHILLI CONDIMENT

August 17, 2026

BENIN - CHICKEN IN TOMATO SAUCE WITH SMOKED FISH, CRAB CALALOU, BAY LEAF RICE & FRESH CHILLI CONDIMENT

Perched on the Gulf of Guinea, Benin is a West African country with a deep history of devotion to the Earth and a belief system that everything in nature is sacred. In keeping with those long-held values the ancient farmers of Benin had practiced sophisticated agricultural traditions of cultivating yams, millet, rice, sorghum, cowpeas and oil palm, alongside a rich variety of Indigenous vegetables, fruits and other crops for millennia before Europeans turned up.

Portuguese traders first arrived on Benin’s Atlantic coast by sailboat in the late 15th century. They introduced new culinary ingredients to the Beninese kitchen (such as corn, tomatoes and chilli pepper varieties), which local cooks embraced and married with their traditional foods to create a new food story. Then, at the turn of the 20th century Benin came under French colonial rule until 1960. Surprisingly, the culinary influence of France was fairly small. The French did introduceEuropean bakery goods and urban café culture to Benin but French food styles did not replace much older local Indigenous foodways.

At the heart of Beninese cooking lies a reverence for the land. Cassava, yams, and corn form the backbone of daily meals, paired with richly layered sauces that define the cuisine’s character such as vibrant tomato-based sauces and deeply savoury leafy green sauces. Along the coast, grilled and smoked fish speaks to the rhythms of the Atlantic, while inland, slow-simmered meats and legumes prevail. The flavour profile is bold yet balanced; there is the warmth of chilli, the earthy depth of palm oil, and the umami of smoked fish. In Benin, every dish tells a story of the enduring connection between food and identity.

our

BENINESE

menu included

CHICKEN in TOMATO SAUCE with SMOKED FISH

and

CRAB CALALOU

served with

BAY LEAF RICE

and

FRESH CHILLI CONDIMENT

CHICKEN in TOMATO SAUCE with SMOKED FISH

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

· 1 chicken, cut into pieces bone in, or a mix of 4 thighs and 4 legs, skin on

· Salt, black pepper to taste

· 2 tbs peanut oil (or other vegetable oil such as canola if allergic)

· 1-2 tbsp red palm oil (see notes at bottom of recipe)

· 1 large white onion, finely chopped

· 400g tin crushed tomatoes

· 1 tbsp tomato paste

· 4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

· 1–2 fresh chillies (to taste)

· 100 gm smoked fish flakes or smoked shrimp (optional but traditional)

· 1 cup chicken stock

· 2 bay leaves (preferably fresh)

· 4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves

Method:

1. Start by seasoning the chicken pieces with salt and pepper

2. Take a heavy based large pan that you are going to cook the entire dish in, sprinkle the bottom with salt add the peanut and red palm oil and heat to medium on top of the stove

3. Now fry the chicken pieces in the oil on medium heat until golden-red on both sides – about 8-10 mins each side

TIPS: Put the chicken in the hot oil skin side down first, then use a spatula or similar to lift it from the pan and turn it over as this improves the overall browning effect. Also, you might want to brown the chicken in two batches so that each piece gets maximum exposure to the hot oil

4. When the chicken is golden-red on all sides remove and set aside for later

5. Now we are going to start building the sauce

6. There should be enough oil left over in the pan from cooking the chicken to start the sauce. If not add some oil

7. Add in the onion to the hot oil, turn the heat back and cook on medium heat until onions are soft, stirring often with a wooden spoon to prevent burning

8. Then add the garlic and sauté it into a glaze with the onion without burning

9. Add the crushed tomatoes and chilli, bring to a simmer and use wooden spoon to scrap the crisp bits from the bottom of the pot into the sauce

10. Stir in tomato paste and fresh thyme sprigs and bay leaves then simmer, stirring often, until the sauce thickens

11. Add in the smoked fish flakes and chicken stock and simmer 10 minutes stirring often until a rich and cohesive sauce is formed

12. Now return the seared chicken to the pot along with any juices that have been released whilst it was resting as the sauce was cooking

13. Spoon sauce over the chicken, cover and simmer gently for 20 mins

14. Take the lid off and check to see that the sauce hasn’t dried out or started to burn. Give the sauce a good stir and if chicken needs more cooking put the lid back on and gently simmer for another 10 mins

Notes on Red Palm Oil:

If you can’t source Red Palm Oil (called Dendê oil in Brazil and other parts of The Americas), you can mimic the colour, earthiness and flavour profile of Red Palm Oil by combining a neutral flavoured vegetable oil such as sunflower oil with a little paprika and annatto/ achiote powder or turmeric

Method for replicating Red Palm Oil

· For 3–4 tbsp oil add about ¾ tsp sweet paprika and pinch of annatto powder (or turmeric powder)

· Warm the oil gently, stir in the paprika, let it infuse for a few minutes off the heat, then use as your red oil stand-in

CRAB CALALOU

Calalou is a leafy greens-based dish that is deeply rooted in Beninese cooking. This is a fabulous dish that must be tried and even beginner cooks can master.

Ingredients:

· 500 g fresh leafy greens (traditionally local leaves such as amaranth or other edible African greens or replace with accessible varieties of spinach)

· 150–200 g cooked crab meat (see notes)

· 3 tablespoons red palm oil (traditional)

· 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

· 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

· 2 medium ripe tomatoes, washed, de-cored and finely chopped

· 1 tablespoon tomato paste (optional)

· 1–2 fresh chillies, finely chopped (or more/less to taste)

· 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (optional)

· 1 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)

· ½ teaspoon black pepper

Notes on Crab Meat:

· Fresh crab meat is best but it can a mission cracking fresh crab by hand.

· You might be able to buy fresh or frozen crab meat from a fishmonger.

· Tinned crab meat is fine; if you are using tinned crab you should drain the liquid off the meat through a sieve or similar before adding to the dish.

· If you can’t find crab, you can easily swap crab out for bone-free smoked fish because in Benin this recipe is often made with flaked smoked fish.

Method:

1. Start by washing drying and preparing the greens.

TIP: The aim is for the greens to become integrated into the sauce rather than remaining as large leaves so depending on the greens you are working with you will need to treat them differently. Traditional African leafy veg might need tough stems removed and to be chopped quite small but if you are cooking with baby spinach you won’t need to de-stem or chop at all

2. Now take a large pot, add the palm oil and gently heat it over low heat

3. Add the onion to the pot and cook until softened and golden stirring often with wooden spoon – about 5 minutes

4. Add garlic, chilli and ginger (if using), then cook briefly until fragrant.

5. Add the chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper and tomato paste

6. Cook sauce for 10 to15 minutes until the tomatoes break down and a sauce is formed. Stir often with wooden spoon and add small amounts of water if needed to prevent sauce from drying out or burning whilst cooking

7. Add the chopped greens and stir well to combine greens with the sauce

8. Gently simmer uncovered, stirring often with the wooden spoon until the greens are tender and the flavours have come together and the sauce is firm not watery (depending on the greens used that could be anything from 5 to 15 mins)

9. Add the crab (or smoked fish) during the final 5 minutes of cooking the greens in the sauce so the flavour perfumes the dish without disappearing

10. The dish is finished when all the ingredients are combined together

BAY LEAF RICE

Ingredients:

· 2 cup long grain rice

· 4 cups water

· 1 tsp salt

· 4 whole fresh Bay leaves, washed

· 1 or 2 teaspoons West African dendê red palm oil for sheen

METHOD:

1. Add the rice, water, salt and bay leaves to a medium size pot/saucepan (that has a tight fitting lid that will be needed later)

2. Bring the pot to boiling using a wooden spoon to stir the rice often

3. Once the rice is boiling give the pot a final really good stir and scrape across the bottom of the pot to ensure nothing is sticking to the bottom

4. Then turn the heat back to low, put the lid on and cook for 10 minutes (from this point don’t take the lid off until you are ready to serve the rice)

5. After 10 mins turn the heat off and let the pot sit on the cooling element for at least 10 mins with the lid untouched so the rice can steam

6. When ready to serve remove the bay leaves and fluff the rice with a fork

7. Finally, before serving drizzle the dendê red palm oil over the rice

FRESH CHILLI CONDIMENT

Benin’s fresh chilli condiment is prized for delivering extra aroma, depth and flavour to any dish and is characteristically served ‘on the side’ so people can adjust the ‘heat’ in their meal. The following recipe makes about 60ml of sauce

Ingredients:

· 6 -10 fresh red chillies (more or less -as hot or not as you like it – see notes)

· 1/4 of a small onion, peeled and finely diced

· 1 large clove garlic, peeled and crushed

· 1 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled

· 2 tablespoons diced tomato

· 1 tablespoon West African dendê red palm oil (or peanut oil if preferred)

· 1 teaspoon lime juice (or white vinegar)

· salt to taste

Notes on Chilli:

· Local chilli belonging to the Scotch Bonnet/Habanero family usually form the base of Benin’s famously hot fresh pepper pastes/sauces and are prized not just for their heat but for their distinctive fruity aromatic complexity.

· The tiny and fiery Bird’s-Eye (Pili-Pili) chilli are also popular and deliver a serious punch for their size along with a clean, fresh and green aroma.

· If you are chilli cautious you can tone this recipe down and still replicate its key flavour profile using mild long red chillies and a few spicier Bird’s-Eye

· If you can’t access fresh chilli you could use a supermarket-bought West African red habanero chilli paste or at a pinch North Africa’s Harissa chilli paste. Harissa won’t be exact but it will lean into similar African flavours.

Method

1. Begin by popping the ginger in the freezer for half an hour (which will make it easier to grate), then finely grate the ginger

2. Now slice the chilli finely with a sharp knife from tip to the top of the stem

TIP: Try to select chili with stems if possible, as the stems are less fiery than the fruit, so you can use the stems as a small handle to hold onto when chopping the chilli rather than holding the chilli itself avoiding super spicy fingers that might touch your face later – but still wash your hands after!

3. Traditionally, you would now pound the chillies, onion, garlic, ginger, tomato and salt together in a mortar until you have a coarse paste (or you can use a food processor, but pulse it, don’t make it completely smooth)

4. Now stir through the dendê red palm oil and lime juice

5. Leave chilli condiment to rest for at least 30 minutes

6. Stir the condiment well to combine textures and flavours before serving

These are all Q-ZINE original recipes informed by multiple sources including but not limited to the following links that will help you get a better idea of the evolution and depth of Beninese cuisine if you are interested to go deeper:

https://togetherwomenrise.org/customsandcuisine/customs-and-cuisine-of-benin/

https://www.netafri.com/benin/food/