Gambian Cooking Receipes

Benachin

Note: "Bena-chin" litterally means "one pot", so if you use more than one pot to prepare these recipes, then you're cheating!
Chicken or Beef Benachin ( Penda mbye )

 Ingredients

• 1/2 chicken
• 1/2 lb beef
• 4 onions
• 2 slices yate
• 1 teaspoon pounded fresh peppers
• 2 large fresh tomatoes
• 3 dessertspoons tomatoes puree
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 1/2 cigarette cups oil
• 1/2 small cabbage
• 1 large bitter tomato
• 1 large aubergine
• 1 slice pumpkin
• 2 big peppers
• Black pepper to taste
• 2 or 3 cigarette cups rice (1 lb)
• 6 cigarette cups water
• Salt to taste

 Directions

Prepare, wash and cut chicken into portions. Remove gristle, etc from beef, wash and cut into equal portions.

Mix chicken and beef together. Season the chicken or meat with salt, black pepper, pounded garlic and vinegar. Allow to stand for 1/2 hour before cooking.

Prepare vegetables accordingly.

Peel, wash and slice onions thinly.

Fry the chicken in hot oil until brown, turn over and fry likewise. Remove from pan and put aside.

Add beef and fry until quite brown. Add the sliced onions and fry until golden brown.

Put the tomato puree and pounded fresh peppers into saucepan. Cook gently for 15 minutes.

Pour in measured water.

Bring to a boil; add all the prepared vegetables, fried chicken, bay leaves and salt.

Remove the chicken and vegetables when cooked and keep in a warm place. Taste seasoning.

Add the washed rice to cooking pot. Put the big sliced peppers and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and cook under low heat until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Serve. Pile the rice on an oval dish, place the vegetables and chicken on top.

 Chakery

 Ingredients:

• 1 pint of vanilla yogurt
• 8 ounces of sour cream
• 12 ounces of evaporated milk
• can of crushed pineapples
• dash of nutmeg
• splash of vanilla flavoring
• Couscous

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients except the couscous together to make the sauce. Cook the couscous separately with water. Serve Chakery sauce over couscous and enjoy

Chicken Yassa

This is a very easy recipe. It's great for guests because you do most of the work the night before.

Ingredients

• 8-10 skinless chicken breasts (or their equivalent)
• For the marinade
• 2/3 c. oil
• 1 c. vinegar
• 1 c. freshly-squeezed lime juice
• 6 chicken-bouillon cubes, crushed
• 24 small garlic cloves, mashed
• 6 tsp. fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
• 12 tsp. coarse black pepper
• 3-4 tsp. red pepper (ground or flakes)

Directions

The Night Before:

Make the marinade by combining all the ingredients (except the chicken)

Clean the chicken breasts. Place the chicken in a large glass baking dish. Pour about 1/3 to 1/2 of the marinade over the chicken, and let it marinate overnight. Reserve the rest of the marinade. At some point, turn the chicken over.

The Big Feast:

Next evening, turn on the broiler in the oven. Put the rack on the 2nd rung from the top. Broil the chicken 15-20 minutes on each side. (In my oven, 15 minutes usually does it.) The chicken should look crispy but not burnt. If you're really ambitious, when the top side of the chicken is under the broiler, take it out & baste it after 5 or 6 minutes. Then finish broiling.

While you're broiling the chicken (or even before), saute a lot of thinly-sliced onions in a non-stick skillet. Cook slowly over medium-low heat till golden.

Heat the reserved marinade in the microwave. If you don't have a microwave, add toward the end of the cooking time in the oven. You have to do this because otherwise, all the marinade will evaporate at broiling temperature.

Heap the sauteed onions over the chicken. Serve with warm French or Italian bread which is great for mopping up all the marinade. Also serve with a good salad of greens.

Domoda

Ingredients

• 6 T Peanut Butter
• 1/8th Habanero pepper
• 2 C water
• 1 T tomato paste
• 1 Maggi cube [yes, they are available in US!]
• 1 T Lemon or lime juice
• 2 cloves garlic

Directions

Boil water. Mix-in Maggi.

Mix-in Peanut Butter until smooth.

Mix in tomato paste.

Add garlic, pepper, and any other veggies you want [onions, casava, bell peppers, green tomatoes, cabbage, etc].

Add lemon/lime juice in last 5 minutes of cooking.

It's all done when the peanut oil begins to separate and rise to the top.

Bon appetite!  

Superkanja

Ingredients

• one small onion
• one fish
• 1/2 pound beef
• 1/2 - 1 cup red palm oil
• 2 10 oz boxes of frozen cut okra
• 2 fresh hot peppers
• 1 teaspoon of red pepper
• 4 chicken or beef maggi cubes
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of curry
• 8 cups of water

Directions

Clean fish and boil in 8 cups of water until fish is done, about 10-15 minutes. Take fish out of pan and add the beef. Thaw and rinse okra. Add okra to pan. Pull fish from bones and put into pot. Keep boiling the water and add onions, fresh hot pepper, maggi cubes, salt and curry. Boil the superkanja until it thickens and has about one cup of water left. Add red palm oil and turn down heat to meduim. Continue to cook as stirring. Superkanja will be done when palm oil comes to the top. Instead of using fresh fish you can save yourself time and use filet of fish. Gambians enjoy the palm oil, however, this may be changed to your liking. After the palm oil reaches the top you may serve it over cooked rice. Note: you will want to make sure that the okra has broken down into small pieces.

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