Dékoudéssi aux Poulet (Palm Soup with Chicken) is a traditional Togolese (from Togo) recipe for a classic stew of chicken and eggplants cooked in a palm soup base. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Togolese version of: Palm Soup with Chicken (Dékoudéssi aux Poulet).
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Dékoudéssi is the Togolese name for the stew base made from raw palm nuts that's known elsewhere in West Africa as palm soup base (a liquid extracted by macerating the flesh of palm nuts in water). For this recipe you can either use fresh palm soup base or tinned palm soup base (known as noix de palme in French).
Ingredients:
500g small chicken, divided into serving-sized pieces
250ml palm soup base (either fresh or tinned)
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp ginger, grated
1 onion, grated
1 onion, chopped
2 fish bouillon cubes
4 large garden eggs (West African white aubergines [eggplants]), coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper, sliced into strips
1 hot chilli
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
Method:
In a bowl, combine the garlic, ginger and grated onion (this mixture is known in Togo as N'toutou). Combine half this mixture with the chicken pieces and turn into a saucepan. Pour in 1.5l water and add 1 chicken bouillon cube. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 40 minutes or until the chicken is tender.
At this point add the palm soup base and make the liquid up to 750ml in all. Stir in the garden eggs and cook for 20 minutes then add the bell pepper strips, the chopped onion, remaining bouillon cube and the remaining n'toutou mixture. Add the whole hot chilli, bring the mixture back to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
Adjust the seasonings to taste and serve hot accompanied by fufu, rice or gari.
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