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Main course · West African

Amiwo (Beninese Red Cornmeal with Tomato Chicken)

60 min Serves 4 ~900 kcal/serving ~£8.50 (£2.13/serving) Dairy-free

Dietary and allergen labels, nutrition and cost are worked out automatically from each recipe’s ingredients and are a guide only. Check the labels on what you buy yourself — especially for allergies or coeliac disease. More about recipe labels.

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Ingredients

  • 1000 g bone-in chicken thighs
  • 300 g fine polenta (cornmeal)
  • 2 onions
  • 400 g chopped tomatoes
  • 3 tbsp tomato purée
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 15 g fresh root ginger
  • 1 scotch bonnet chilli
  • 1 chicken stock cube
  • 4 tbsp vegetable oil

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories
900 kcal
Protein
50.3 g
Carbohydrate
67.1 g
of which sugars
9.3 g
Fat
45.6 g
of which saturates
10 g
Fibre
5.6 g
Salt
1.69 g

Estimated from typical values for each ingredient — a guide, not a substitute for the label on what you actually buy.

Method

  1. 1

    Season the chicken with salt. Heat the vegetable oil in a large casserole over a medium-high heat and brown the chicken for 8 minutes, turning. Lift out.

  2. 2

    Add the chopped onions to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, then stir in the crushed garlic, grated ginger and tomato purée and fry for 2 minutes.

  3. 3

    Add the chopped tomatoes, the crumbled stock cube, the scotch bonnet pierced once with a knife and 1 litre water. Return the chicken, cover and simmer for 25 minutes until no pink remains near the bone.

  4. 4

    Lift the chicken out and keep warm. Measure the sauce: you need about 1 litre in the pan, so top up with water if needed. Keep back a ladleful to serve.

  5. 5

    Bring the sauce back to a simmer and pour in the polenta in a thin stream, whisking all the time. Switch to a wooden spoon and beat over a low heat for 8-10 minutes until thick, smooth and pulling away from the sides. Season with salt.

  6. 6

    Shape the red amiwo into mounds with a wet bowl and serve with the chicken and the reserved sauce spooned over.

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