Poulet Yassa Mauritanienne (Mauritanian Chicken Yassa) is a traditional Mauritanian recipe for classic stew of chicken and onions in a lemon juice, palm oil and chilli base that's finished with balsamic vinegar, mustard and olives. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Mauritanian version of: Mauritanian Chicken Yassa (Poulet Yassa Mauritanienne).
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Yassa is a dish made throughout much of the western fringe of West Africa. This particular version comes from Mauritania. The Mauritanian version is distinguished by Berber elements — the addition of Balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard and olives.
Ingredients:
1 chicken, washed and cut into serving pieces
1kg onions, finely chopped
200ml lemon juice
finely-grated zest of 2 lemons
60ml red palm oil
2 hot chillies, finely chopped
salt, freshly-ground black pepper and hot chilli powder, to taste
60ml balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
100g green olives
Method:
Place the chicken pieces in a bowl, add the lemon juice, palm oil, lemon zest, onions and chillies. Season with salt and black pepper and set aside to marinate, covered, for 20 minutes.
After this time, drain the chicken and either place on a barbecue or under a grill (broiler) cooking until nicely coloured on all sides. Set aside.
Turn the marinade contents into a large pan and fry until the onions are coloured. Add the chicken pieces to the pan then pour in just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook gently for 45 minutes.
Stir in the balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard and olives, cover and cook for 10 minutes then serve on a bed of rice.
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