Liberian chicken gravy is a delicious African stew. A lot of oil is required to cook most African stews, but when it comes to this dish, you don’t need so much.
Ingredients
- 3 lb chicken, cut into medium pieces
- Salt to taste
- Ground red or black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon cube
- 2 medium-size onions, neatly chopped
- 4 fresh tomatoes
- 4 medium-size red bell pepper
- 5 cloves of garlic
- ½ cup basil and parsley
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 lb any type of dried fish steak of your choice, cleaned
- Smoked paprika (optional)
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 medium-size habanero pepper, neatly chopped
- 1 pound large shrimp, cleaned
Procedure
- In a medium-size saucepan, boil the chicken with salt, pepper, some chopped onions, and 1 tablespoon of the chicken bouillon. Let them cook until tender—the cooking time varies according to the chicken.
- Remove the chicken to a bowl, reserving the stock.
- In a blender, purée the tomatoes, red bell pepper, onions, garlic, basil, and parsley.
- Add ½ cup oil to a pot, then add the blended mixture followed by the tomato paste. Allow it to cook for about 15 minutes, stirring the pot frequently as the sauce simmers.f
- Add the reserved chicken broth, then the chicken, dried fish, smoked paprika, ginger powder, cayenne pepper, and habanero pepper. Let simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Add the shrimp and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Adjust the stew with water, broth, and/or bouillon cubes if needed.
- Enjoy with any complimentary dish of your choice.
Notes, tips, and variations
- It is not compulsory to use fish when preparing this stew.
- You can use any variety of tomatoes such as canned tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, or Roma tomatoes.
- Use any range of vegetables such as carrot, green beans.
- You can also make use of extra spices such as curry powder, thyme, and bay leaves as desired.