How to Cook Nigerian Tomato & Chicken Stew Recipe

Chicken Stew is simply well-fried tomato stew made with chicken meat pieces, it’s stock, and other ingredients and spices.

Nigerian Chicken Stews and soups make up a large portion of Nigerian and African cuisine.

It is very common in Nigeria because it can serve as an addition to almost any meal. However, it is mostly served with boiled white rice.

It can also be served with boiled and fried yams, plantain recipes, beans recipes, and even bread…Yes, I love stew and fresh ‘out of the oven bread’.

Nigerian chicken stew is traditionally best prepared with native fowl, this healthy stew reminds me so much of Sundays. There’s nothing as tasty and simple as white rice and tomato stew.

We all love the drumstick/wings part more than any part as little kids.

Furthermore, it is also a hearty and soothing stew; which when combined with rice, yam or potatoes does the body a lot of good.

We Have Different Variations of Chicken Stew Depending On What Is Added

• Chicken Stew with Fresh/ Tin Tomatoes
• Palm Oil Stew
• Nigerian fish stew
• Red Stew
• Turkey stew
• Southern chicken stew
• Beef Stew
• Fried Stew
• African Stew
• Pepper Stew
• Assorted Meat Stew
• Buka Stew

How to Get the Rich Red Color for Chicken Stew

Firstly, pepper selection! The color, flavor, and taste of your Nigerian chicken stew start from when you are selecting peppers.

Lastly, I always use a higher ratio of long peppers or bell peppers to tomatoes and scotch bonnet (ata rodo).

Nigerian Chicken Stew Recipe

This chicken stew recipe can be cooked in the slow cooker, Stove top or baked in the oven.

It is very easy to make at home, you can use only fresh tomatoes. Blend and boil the tomato for the liquid to evaporate and add it to the oil to fry.

You can also add some canned/tinned tomatoes paste or combine both fresh and tinned tomatoes if you prefer your stew that way.

The main spices in the chicken stew are onions, ginger, and garlic. These spices bring out that real taste and flavor of your stew.

Using a mixture of three different peppers below gives the stew a nice color and brings out the taste:

• Red bell pepper
• “Tatashey” Chili “Shombo”
• Scotch bonnet “Ata Rodo”

These three peppers have different levels of “heat” with scotch bonnet taking the highest heat rating.

Ingredients

• 1 kilo Chicken (Cut into parts)
• 10 medium-sized plum Tomatoes
• 4 medium-sized Red bell pepper “Tatashey”
• 10 Chili pepper “Shombo”
• 6 Scotch Bonnet “Ata rodo” (Or Less)
• 1 medium-sized Red Onion, chopped
• 1 tsp. Thyme
• 1 tsp. Curry powder
• 4 Garlic cloves, minced – Optional
• 3 Seasoning Cubes, crushed
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Firstly, wash and blend the tomatoes, onions, peppers, and others to a smooth paste. Then, parboil to a thick consistency. Set aside.
2. Secondly, wash the chicken and boil using, thyme, curry, seasoning cubes, and salt.
3. Thirdly, when the chicken is tender, sieve the stock from the chicken and set aside.
4. After that, place the pot on heat and add vegetable oil enough to fry the chicken. Add onions to fry for some minutes.
5. Then, add curry and thyme to the hot oil together with the tin tomatoes paste and fry for some minutes.
6. Similarly, add the parboiled tomatoes and stir to mix. Then, add the fried chicken, seasoning cubes and taste for salt
7. Lastly, allow cooking and add the chicken stock. Drop from heat when the sour taste of tomato stew is no longer there.. Your homemade chicken stew is ready.

Above all, serve with potatoes and vegetables (spinach), cooked rice or boiled yam.