Peppered Chicken.....Nigerian Party Style!
Peppered Chicken are basically fried or grilled chicken fried in very rich tomato stew. Peppered Chicken are favourites at Nigerian parties and are absolutely delicious. They are very easy to make and ideal for entertaining guests these summer months.
I had to make peppered chicken for a friend recently and thought to share the recipe with you. I couldn’t get decent photos of the chicken cos they were an impromptu request, I stayed up till 4.am in the morning making these alongside some other delicacies, fancy food photography was the least thing on my mind by the time I was done….LOL.
Now, peppered chicken, let’s get started…..
Ingredients (For 20 Chicken drumsticks)
- 1 can plum tomatoes/ 3 big tomatoes
1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 11/2 cups chicken/beef stock
- 3 cloves garlic
Salt to taste
Directions Clean and rinse the chicken thoroughly. Transfer into a big pot, season with onions, curry, thyme, pepper, bullion cubes and salt…
Tip: I always prefer to marinate my chicken overnight with knorr chicken cubes, garlic powder, mixed herbs, Aromat seasoning and a teeny bit of sunflower oil. This helps to enhance the flavour. After marination, You’ll still need to season your chicken again before cooking, makes sure it’s as flavourful as possible. The stock will be used in the preparation of the stew.
When it’s boiled and tender, grill or deep-fry the chicken….When it’s all done, and set aside.
Blend your peppers and tomatoes and 1 whole onion and ginger to a smooth paste and set aside, you can also choose to blend roughly if you prefer to. Place another big pot on a job on medium heat, add 2 cooking spoons cooking oil, when it’s hot, add 1/2 chopped onions, sauté till translucent… Now add the garlic, sauté till fragrant, be careful not to burn the garlic… Now add the blended pepper mix, 1/2 teaspoon curry and thyme, 3 bullion cubes and salt, be careful not to over season, remember you will be adding the stock later and this already contains salt. Let this fry for 10-15 minutes or until the pepper reduces by almost half… While that’s frying, get a smaller pot or frying pan, place on a hob on medium heat, add 1 cooking spoon oil, when it’s hot, add chopped onions, sauté till fragrant…
I use a mixture of white and red onions to get the best of both flavours. Now add the tomato purée, stir continuously for 5 minutes, this is to prevent it from burning… Now add more onions, this time sliced bigger or in rings… Leave to fry till the purée totally loses its sourness and begins to taste really sweet, this should take another 5.6 minutes… Now, check on the tomato stew, when begins to settle on the top, add the chicken/beef stock, be careful not to make it watery, one cup should do… Stir and leave for 2 minutes… Now, add the tomato purée mix, stir to combine, leave for 2 minutes… I transferred the stew at this point into a bigger pan to enable me add all the chicken at once Now, add the fried or grilled chicken, combine and make sure every bit of the chicken is covered, leave to stew on low to medium heat for 5-8 minutes… Tip: To enable to the stew penetrate deep into the chicken, you can poke tiny holes in the chicken with toothpicks… And you’re done! If you’re not ready to serve the peppered chicken yet, you can leave it in the stew for longer for added flavour.
