MID-WEEK CHICKEN STEW WITH RICE & GUACAMOLE

Hey guys!

So first and foremost. Im excited to start working on my Cooking with Jaz website. I think its time for some change. Im excited for all that God has planned and thankful for all that He has been doing through this blog.

Now back to cooking.

If you're Kenyan, you love stew cause God knows we're all about those stews. I can't think of one person I know here who didn't have stew for dinner growing up and just about everyday for lunch at that banda, or dinner.

So yeah I love it too.

Here is a simple stew recipe I make frequently.

Ingredients:- [serves 3]
Chicken pieces [I used 6 chicken thighs]
3 red onions  

4 garlic cloves
1 tomato
Dhania/ coriander
2 large avocados
100 grams sweet peas
1 green pepper [hoho]
Curry powder
Black pepper
1 packet tomato paste/ 4 tablespoons tomato paste
Cayenne pepper
1 lemon

Prepare Yellow rice by using two cups rice, 4 cups water, a few drops vegetable oil, and one tablespoon turmeric powder.

For the guacamole:

Start off by chopping two onions. 

Follow by washing and peeling the avocados. 

Chop them in cubes and mix with the onions. 

Finish off by washing and chopping 1 tomato. Use an orange juicer to extract all the juice from the lemon. Sprinkle over the guacamole. The lemon helps not only with the acidic taste but also in preventing avocados from blackening. Put aside.

For the chicken stew:

Wash and chop the sweet peas and the green pepper. 

Take about 5 Dhania/ coriander sticks and cut off the leaves to chop them. 

Chop the onions and garlic and cook with vegetable/olive oil. Add the chopped veggies.

After a few minutes, add the chicken thighs and allow to cook for a good 5 minutes while stirring. Add chopped dhania/ coriander.

 Add the tomato paste, salt to taste, black pepper and cayenne pepper. 

 Stir well and add water to cover and leave to cook for 15 -20 minutes while stirring occasionally. 

Make sure stew is nice and thick. If it isn't too thick add some tomato paste, about 3 tablespoons.

Once the stew is done, serve with yellow rice and guacamole.

VEGETARIAN MEAL: SWEET NDENGU

Hey everyone, 

Hoping you've had a fabulous long weekend. 

I sure did :-) Excited and thankful to see a new week and better yet a new month!

In the spirit of celebrating Kenya, decided to cook a common kenyan meal that we've all grown up with: RICE WITH NDENGU, also known as lentils. I recently threw in a couple of things and it came out so well that I adapted this recipe as one of my "no-fail-recipes!" I mean what would this page be without a twist in the normal meals. Instead of the usual carrots and potatoes ndengu stews, I now use sweet potaoes and the butternut. This is most definitely a must-try. The sweetness of the butternut and the sweet potatoes works so well with the saltiness of the ndengus. 

And the recipe is as follows......

Ingredients:- [serves up to 5 people]
250 grams Ndengu
1 Butternut
1-2  sweet potato
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
4 sticks Thyme
1 packet tomato paste
1 beef cube [optional]
1 tablespoon royco
Black pepper
Salt to taste
olive/vegetable oil
Jasmine/ Pishori rice

Start off by preparing rice and put aside once done. * Double the cups of water per cup rice*

Boil ndengus for about half an hr and put aside. 

Chop garlic and onions. Peel and cut up the butternut and the sweet potatoes in big cubes. Rinse them in water.

 In another sufuria cook onions and garlic in vegetable/ olive oil. After a few minutes, add the butter and sweet potato cubes to cook.

 Follow by adding the beef cube [optional] and tomato paste and cook for about 3minutes. Add two tablespoons of water to enable you to stir well without it sticking in the bottom.

 Once the tomato paste has began to brown, add the already boiled ndengu.

Stir and add 2 cups water with one tablespoon royco and cover to cook for another 15-20 minutes. 

Add a dash of black pepper and salt to taste. Add the thyme leaves. * Run your fingers through the thyme sticks and add the leaves to the stew* 

 The thyme adds a very aromatic flavor. Be careful to stir well every few minutes. We want the ndengus to cook well without sticking in the bottom. Also make sure not to overcook them since the ndengus then mash up and they don't look or taste as good. 

Once the stew is nice and thick, remove from heat and serve with rice.

ENJOY

Also I'll have you know:-

-I'm up to 8000+ pageviews-thankyou Jesus! and thankyou all for following and trying out my recipes.

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-If you have tried any of my recipes, do tag me or send me the pics on any one of my social media pages

Have a lovely week :)

Sincerely,

Jaz.