Muamba Chicken Stew
Black History Month Virtual Potluck 2023
In 2023, the theme of Black History Month is Black Resistance and Eat the Culture is recognizing the remarkable and, frankly, underrated resistance of our ancestors in bringing culinary traditions across the Atlantic to shape the vibrance of Black cuisine that we know and love today. They physically and mentally carried African foodways across the deadly Middle Passage to pass down through generations. This year’s Black History Month Virtual Potluck traces popular dishes of the Diaspora from their West African roots to North America and beyond. Share these recipes with your friends and loved ones and follow each participant by using the hashtag #BHMVP2023 on Instagram.
You can find the full list of recipes from this year’s collaboration on the Eat the Culture website.
Muamba chicken originated in Angola and has migrated with enslaved African people across the Caribbean, Central America, and the American South. This flavorful stewed chicken main dish combines spices and palm butter. With this recipe, I am teaching you how to make Muamba Chicken stew from Angola and encourage you to follow the story through other virtual potluck recipes like Poulet Creole from Haiti and Pollo Guisado from Puerto Rico.
Muamba Chicken also known as Muamba de Galina is Angola’s national dish. Angolan dishes have many Portuguese influences. Portuguese colonization of various lands and people created the colony of Angola. The Portuguese occupied the land that is now Angola for over 400 years. Angola was a Portugese colony until 1975 when Angola gained its in independence. The Portuguese influenced the use of olive oil and the peri-peri pepper in Angola.
The Story
Muamba Chicken is a chicken stew. With family and friends from the south, I’m used to a good stewed chicken. While still a chicken stew, Muambe Chicken is slightly different from the chicken stews I ate growing up. There are just those dishes that instantly take you back to a moment in time, Muamba Chicken is one of those dishes for me.
I remember taking a trip down south. That trip was memorable because it was the first time I saw my great aunt, my grandmother’s sister, go get a chicken from the yard, pluck the feathers, and that was dinner for the night. Though I was born in New York my grandmother who lived with us was a South Carolinian. She would work most days but on those off days, usually, a Sunday, she was in the kitchen. On Sundays, dinner would be started before I could even open my eyes. One of the dishes my grandmother would always cook was stewed chicken. That tender chicken falling off the bone was a treat. Comfort food always brings up feelings of nostalgia. Needless to say I was drawn to Muamba Chicken stew.
The Ingredients
Muamba Chicken stew is a tomatoey, garlicky chicken stew. Fairly simple ingredients come together to create a flavor-filled one-pot dish. The recipe calls for chicken, palm oil, garlic, onions, tomatoes, and pumpkin, spiced and seasoned to perfection.
I used palm oil in my recipe. I have seen variations of the recipe using palm cream and palm butter. I found the palm oil at my local African market. In terms of vegetables, I chose to go with frozen okra, pumpkin, and red cherry peppers. For a bit of spice, the peri-peri pepper is used in traditional Angolan dishes. I tried a variety of peppers but ultimately went with the red cherry pepper which gave nice spice, when the seeds are added, and sweetness. For my palette two peppers gave the stew heavy medium spice. If you prefer less spice, use less peppers, discard the seeds, or eliminate the peppers. Okra serves as a nice thickener for soups and stews. In addition to the palm oil, I located nice large slices of pumpkin at the African market. If pumpkin is not available butternut squash or acorn squash are good alternative options.
Muamba Chicken stew can be eaten alone but is traditionally served with funge. Funge can be made by adding cassava or corn flour to boiling water and stirring until you reach the right consistency. I steamed some cassava to enjoy with my Muamba Chicken, but white rice would also work just as well.
Ingredients
Method
- Rinse and clean 2 ½ pounds of chicken. After rinsing with cold water, I clean my chicken by rubbing all pieces of chicken with half a lemon.
- Sprinkle and rub into the chicken 3 Tbsp fine sea salt (I use Pink Himalayan), ½ Tsp of black pepper, and ½ Tsp of garlic powder.
- Marinade your chicken for 15 minutes at least, overnight is fine also.
- While the chicken is marinating, chop 1 small onion, 2 small tomatoes, slice 2 red cherry peppers with seeds, slice 2 cloves of garlic, and pull the leaves from a sprig of thyme.
- Heat a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat.
- Add in 1 Tbsp of olive oil.
- Once the oil is warm, add in the chicken and brown each side, for about 10 minutes.
- Leaving the pot on, take the chicken out and set it aside.
- Add 1 ½ Tbsp of palm oil to the pot and stir.
- Add in the chopped onion, 2 bullion cubes, sliced red cherry peppers, 2 Tbsp of tomato paste, 2 chopped tomatoes, 2 Tbsp of peanut butter, 2 cloves of sliced garlic, and thyme.
- Stir, scraping the bottom, drop in the 3 bay leaves and continue to simmer on medium-low for 10 minutes.
- While the stew is simmering, dice 2 C of pumpkin.
- After 10 minutes, add the chicken back to the pot and the pumpkin.
- Pour in three cups of water, or enough to cover the chicken.
- Simmer for 20 minutes covered on medium-low.
- Taste and add additional seasonings if necessary. (I added another ¼ Tsp of salt and ½ Tsp of garlic powder here, I am a garlic fan.)
- Pour in 1 C of okra.
- Simmer for another 20 minutes covered on medium-low.
- Enjoy your Muamba Chicken stew!
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