Boiled chicken in a tomato stew with potatoes, carrot and capsicum (mchemsho wa kuku)

This hearty Tanzanian stew isn’t eaten every day, but it’s a delicious recipe that can be adapted to include fish instead of chicken.

Boiled chicken in a tomato stew with potatoes, carrot and capsicum (mchemsho wa kuku) Credit: The Good Cooks

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  6 hours

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 x 4 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled
• 1 lime, juiced
• 4 potatoes, chopped
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 1 small green capsicum, sliced
• 1 small yellow capsicum, sliced
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 4 walking or spring onions
• a handful makaranga mwitu or baby spinach
• 500 ml milk
• 200 g natural yoghurt

Instructions

1. Heat a large saucepan of water over high heat, until boiling. Clean the chicken and cut into pieces. Add the chicken to the boiling water.
2. Using a mortar and pestle, crush garlic, ginger and lime. Strain mixture into the boiling water. Simmer for 15 minutes, then add the potato, carrot, capsicum and tomato.
3. Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, heat the milk until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer until reduced a little, then add the yoghurt. Cook on low heat for 6 hours. Serve in a separate dish.

 

The Good Cooks premieres on Thursday 8 November at 8.30pm. The series airs Thursdays at 8.30pm (with an encore on Sundays at 6.30pm) on SBS Food (Channel 33). After they air, episodes will stream at SBS On Demand. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.