Best Nsima with Chicken Stew Recipe—Making Malawi’s Most Beloved Meal (Level A2-B1)

NSIMA WITH CHICKEN STEW RECIPE

Nsima with Chicken Stew Recipe

Recipe by Thandi Ngwira GatignolCourse: MainCuisine: AfricanDifficulty: Medium

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

50

minutes

Ingredients

• Ingredients for Chicken Stew

• 8 pieces of chicken

• 2 big tomatoes

• 1 big onion

• 3/4 green bell pepper

• 3/4 red bell pepper

• 10g butter

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder

• 1/2 teaspoon mild paprika powder

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• Any chicken seasoning of your choice

• 2 crushed cloves of garlic

• Ingredients for Nsima

• 300g white or yellow maize flour (corn flour)

• 1/2 litre of water for cooking

• Ingredients for Rice

• 500g jasmine rice

• 1 teaspoon curry powder

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil

• Water for cooking

• Ingredients for Cabbage Stew

• 1/2 of medium-sized cabbage

• 1 big tomato

• 1 medium-sized onion

• 1/4 red bell pepper

• 1/4 green bell pepper

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

• Gather all ingredients.
• Wash and chop onions, red bell peppers , green bell peppers and tomatoes. You can put the tomatoes in a bowl of hot water to remove the skin before chopping.
• Crush the cloves of garlic.
• Put the chicken pieces in a bowl and add curry, paprika powder, salt, olive oil, crushed garlic and any chicken seasoning. Mix well with your hands. Cover the bowl and set aside. You can also do this an hour before cooking for better results.
• Heat a nonstick pan with the butter inside over medium-sized heat. Brown the chicken pieces for about 10 minutes. Afterwards, put the chicken in an empty cooking pot and use the remaining oil to make a tomato sauce.
• To make tomato sauce, you should first put the chopped onions. After 1 to 2 minutes, add the green and red bell pepper. Stir for about 1 to 2 minutes and then finally add the tomatoes. Let it simmer for 4 to 5 minutes. Remember to stir the tomato so it does not stick.
• When the tomato sauce is ready, pour the tomato sauce over the chicken in the cooking pot. Add a little water and let the chicken simmer for 8 to 10 minutes.
• Cooking the Nsima
• Boil 1/2 litre of water in a kettle.
• Take a small cooking pot with a heavy bottom. The nsima forms a crust when cooking so make sure it doesn't get burned.
• Put 70 g of maize flour in the cooking pot and add some cold water to make a paste. This paste should not be too thin or too thick. Use a whisk to make the paste smooth.
• Pour hot water on the maize paste, slowly, and stir with a wooden spoon. You have to come up with a paste that is not too thick or too thin. Once you have achieved your desired results, cook the mixture over medium to high heat. Too little fire will not cook your nsima and too much heat will burn it. Find the perfect balance by adjusting water quantities.
• After about 15 minutes, and ONLY when the crust has formed at the bottom of the pot, add flour to the nsima while continuously stirring with your wooden spoon.
• The end result should be a mixture that is not too thin or too thick. You should not have porridge and you should not make a stone.
• Once you have found the perfect mixture, dish out the nsima. You can achieve good results if you put water in a bowl first and then put the serving spoon in the water before scooping out the nsima (just like you do when serving ice cream).
• Cooking the Cabbage Stew
• Chop the cabbage thinly. I usually use a bread knife for perfect results.
• Brown onions for about 1 to 2 minutes.
• Add red and green peppers.
• Add tomatoes.
• Add the cabbage and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes.
• Cooking the Rice
• Wash rice.
• Put rice in rice cooker and cover with water (about an inch above).
• Add sunflower oil, salt and curry.
• Cook until the water has disappeared and the rice grains can be separated.

Recipe Video

Notes

• The trick with nsima is to pay attention to the amount of heat you are using. The desired result is a smooth paste that smells good and is not burnt. You can also half-cover the nsima to avoid spillage. If the nsima spills over (like when one boils milk), use a wet towel to remove the spillage and pay attention not to get burnt.

Best Nsima and Chicken Stew Recipe: 10 Interesting Facts about this Hearty Meal

Below are a few funny and surprising facts about this tasty nsima and chicken stew recipe. I hope this information piques your interest and spurs you into action!

• We only eat nsima with our hands! No forks, knives or spoons guys.
• Nsima is eaten in most parts of Africa. It has different names but the principle is the same. You might come across the following words: ugali, nshima, mealie, sadza, sembe, putu or pap.
• In Africa, nsima is mostly made from white maize flour. The flour can be store-bought or it can be made from scratch. It usually takes short trips to the maize mill and back! Then the flour is dried in the sun on a reed mat. On those days, rain is not welcome at all!
• You can also cook nsima with cassava flour. It’s so yummy and filling!
• Most villagers in Malawi prefer to eat nsima only. They can be given rice or other types of food but they will still want to eat nsima.
• When city people visit their home villages, a chicken will often be killed in their honour. Hence, nsima with chicken stew is a really special dish!
• Farmers like eating nsima because it gives them a lot of long-lasting energy. When you eat this food, you don’t feel like eating for hours. It’s perfect to curb food cravings.
• Girls have to learn to cook nsima for several people if they want to appear as a good wife. Most of the times, in-laws test a bride-to-be about her cooking skills! Mind you this is a daunting process! It’s not for the faint-hearted. Not at all.
• During wedding or funeral ceremonies, you will often find strong women manning a huge pot of nsima. It’s very impressive!
• At Christmas, people swap nsima with chicken stew for rice with chicken or beef stew. Rice is an expensive commodity and is rarely eaten. Christmas and New Year’s Celebrations are the perfect days to eat rice. In the city, a few well-to-do families will offer both nsima and rice even during weekdays.
• Nsima is a a prized heritage! In 2017, UNESCO added it to the exceptional Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. What about that?
• Nsima with chicken stew is a favourite but you can also accompany nsima with grilled termites, field rats, grasshoppers or caterpillars! Well, personally I love termites. They are so tasty. A true delicacy!

Well, what do you think? We would love to hear from you!

Did you like this tasty nsima and chicken stew recipe? Would you like to try it? What about some gourmet grasshoppers or caterpillars? Ha, ha, ha. Anyway, let us know if you managed to make the perfect nsima!

Until next time!

Further Exploration: Nsima with Chicken Stew Recipe

Read:

• Moist Banana Cake Recipe, Learn English With Africa, May 2023
• Baked Plantains With Cinnamon, Learn English With Africa, December 2016
• Tropical Fruit Salad, Learn English With Africa, December 2016
• Food in Africa, Learn English With Africa, November 2015

Watch: Baked Plantains With Cinnamon (December, 2016)

Shop:

About the Author

Thandi Ngwira Gatignol is the founder of Learn English With Africa. She was born on June 11th, 1981 in Blantyre, Malawi. When she was 19, she left her country of birth for France. She currently lives with her two daughters and husband in Poland.

Thandi holds a Bachelor’s degree in English studies obtained at the Université Paris X Nanterre in France and a Certificate in Journalism from Malawi. She has taught English as a French Ministry of Education certified teacher both in France and in Poland. She speaks six languages fluently, including French, Polish and Italian. She is now learning Kiswahili, German and Spanish. Salt No More is her debut novel and you can find her other books here on the website or on Amazon.

Blog Article: Nsima with Chicken Stew Recipe—Making Malawi’s Most Beloved Meal (Level A2-B1) © Learn English With Africa, May 2023