Gambia here I come!

The country of Gambia, official name The Republic of The Gambia, is situated in Western Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa. It borders Senegal to the north, east and south and has a small coast on the Atlantic Ocean in the west.

Interesting Facts:
- On February 18th, 1965 Gambia was granted independence from the U.K. and joined The Commonwealth.
-An agriculturally rich country, its economy is dominated by farming, fishing, and tourism. However about a third of the population lives below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day.
-Although Gambia is not an island or a penninsula, approximately 1,300 km² of its area is covered by water.

RECIPE: Poulet Yassa (Chicken Yassa) *ATTENTION!  must be marinated overnight!*
This is a stew of fried chicken and vegetables with chilies typically served with rice.
8 tbsp lemon juice
8 tbsp malt or cider vinegar (apple cider vinegar works well)
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 small cabbage, cut into chunks
3 carrots, cut into chunks
4 cloves garlic, minced
5 medium onions, sliced
2 oz peanut oil (see my notes on this)
1 chicken, cut into serving pieces (you can use skinless chicken thighs)
1 sprig thyme (or 1tbsp dry thyme)
1 habanero chilli, finely chopped (or 1tbsp Epicure Louisiana Hot and Spicy dip mix)
12 oz or 350ml chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Make a marinade from the lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, onion and the spices. Place the chicken in a shallow dish and pour the marinade over it. Leave in the refrigerator over night. The following day remove the chicken from the marinade and fry for a few minutes on each side, until golden brown.

Add the marinated onions and the garlic to the chicken pieces and fry for about 3 minutes, then add the remaining marinade and chicken stock along with the cabbage, carrots and chilli. Cover the pan and simmer for about 35 minutes over medium heat.

Serve immediately with rice.

NOTES: The recipe was a bit confusing so while I went along I tweaked and made notes for your convenience. First things first, my fellow food enthusiast, reader and friend , Jessica, gave me an excellent tip… If you light some candles where you chop your onions, fire in close proximity to the onion being cut up will burn up the sulfuric fumes, now… it won’t completely stop your eyes from burning (especially when you’re cutting up 5 onions) but it really helped and it didn’t hurt me at all. The burning started when I transferred the cut onions to a separate dish because I moved them from the proximity of the candles so maybe just light a bunch of tea lights around the whole cooking area and cook by candlelight.

About the peanut oil, I’m in the process of packing up for a move and don’t really feel like buying bottles of new stuff just to pack it up and move it in 3 weeks so what I did is use the oil that separated from my peanut butter (of course I only use the natural just peanuts stuff, no preservatives or additives). I worked like a charm and it turned out perfect. 

VERDICT: A very good dish indeed. Served over brown rice it made a perfect dinner dish with the meat and veggies in the stew.  Make sure to brown the chicken before adding the vegetables, I had too much chicken in the pan and it didn’t really brown, it was still good but I imagine that browning it would’ve made it better. I only added some salt almost right before serving it and it was great that way. The recipe renders enough for 6 and I had all 6 people tell me that it was very good, I did have some leftovers for lunch the next day too!   All in all, Gambia was a great trip… taste wise.