Global Holiday Recipe: Chicken Yassa

Holiday Feature

Chicken Yassa

Serves 12
Cooking time: 30 minutes

This recipe from Senegal is great on any holiday. It is simple and reminds us of our ancestors.

2 frying chickens (2-1/2 to 3 pounds each) cut into 8 pieces
2 cups lemon juice, strained
6 large Bermuda onions, finely chopped
4 tablespoons fresh hot chiles, finely chopped
10 teaspoons peanut oil
1/2 cups water
1 chile, pricked with a fork
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

1. Mix the lemon juice, onions, half the chopped chiles ginger, salt, pepper, and 6 tablespoons of the peanut oil to create a marinade.

2. Place the chicken in a large bowl and cover it with the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

3. Remove the chicken from the marinade, place it in shallow baking dish, and broil until lightly browned (save the marinade).

4. Remove the onions from the marinade with a slotted spoon and cook them in the remaining 4 teaspoons of oil in a Dutch oven for about 5 minutes, or until soft; do not brown.

5. Add the marinade, chicken, water, and the rest of chopped chiles.

6. Stir and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until chicken is well cooked.

7. Serve over steaming hot rice.

The Complete Kwanzaa:
Celebrating Our Cultural Harvest
by Dorothy Winbush Riley
Designed by Gloria Adelson/Lulu Graphics
$23.00 (hardback)
HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 0-06-01725-0
Recipe reprinted by permission.