Kedjenou is a traditional chicken stew dish from the Ivory Coast. The chicken is stewed with vegetables such as tomatoes and peppers, herbs, hot peppers, and spices until a sauce forms and the chicken is tender. It is served with a starches like rice or attieke and eaten as a main meal.
Traditionally made with chicken or guinea hen, today Kedjenou can be made with other proteins like fish while vegetarian recipes simply omit the chicken. This dish is spicy not only due the hot peppers but also because it uses fresh ginger.
Ivorian foods consist largely of stews, sauces and spices. Kedjenou has remained truly Ivorian and does not have many variations.
Origin & Cultural Significance
Kedjenou originates from the Baoule and Bete ethnic groups of the Ivory Coast. The word Kedjenou means shake or move. Traditionally it was cooked in a clay pot called a canari over coals or open flame.
Cooking Kedjenou was traditionally a village activity. The dish cooked for several hours since it took a while for the meat to become tender, so people would take turns shaking the canari while it was cooking to prevent the meat from sticking to the pot.
Ivorian Kedjenou Recipe
Kedjenou is a traditional chicken stew dish from the Ivory Coast. The chicken is stewed with vegetables like tomatoes and peppers, herbs, hot peppers and spices until a sauce forms and the chicken is tender.
Ingredients
- Chicken thighs - 5
- Onion - 2
- Bell peppers (I used red, green and yellow) - 3
- Eggplant (small) - 1
- Tomatoes (medium) - 4
- Scallions - 4
- Ginger - 1 ½ tbsp
- Garlic - 1 ½ tbsp
- Bay leaves - 2
- Fresh thyme - 8 sprigs
- Smoked paprika - 1 tsp
- Hot peppers - 2
- Chicken bouillon - 1 cube
- Salt and pepper - to taste
Instructions
- Chop all vegetables except the eggplant to prevent it from browning.
- Finely dice the garlic and ginger.
- In large bowl combine the chicken, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, paprika, thyme, whole hot peppers and bay leaves and marinate for at least two hours.
- Remove the chicken, hot peppers and bay leaves and set aside.
- Chop the eggplant and mix into remaining vegetable mixture.
- Add half of this mixture into a large Dutch oven.
- Layer on the chicken, followed by bay leaves and hot peppers.
- Add a few more sprigs of thyme and a bit more salt and pepper.
- Crumble the bouillon cube and sprinkle on top.
- Finish the layering by adding the remaining vegetables on top.
- Set stove to medium high heat, place the lid and cook for 15 minutes.
- Reduce heat to medium low and cook for an additional 45 minutes. During this time, shake the pot occasionally, but do not remove the lid.
- After the 45 minutes, check the chicken for doneness. It should be fall off the bone tender. If not, cook for several more minutes
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 490Total Fat: 24gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 208mgSodium: 493mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 8gSugar: 14gProtein: 43g
Nutrition is provided and calculated by Nutritionix. It is for general information purposes and is only a rough estimation.