African Grill Chicken (kati kati) – grilled chicken, then sauteed to perfect with the right blend of spices to give you a lip-smacking chicken dish!
Kati Kati is in the house – people! You know I wouldn’t just do you like that. Make fufu and Njama then leaving you hanging. Come on now- I am a nice person.
Are you ready for some fingerling chicken -African style?
Louder! Ok. You are ready So let’s get started!
Kati Kati is one of the most ancient and distinctive dishes of the Nkom people, in the Northwest province of Cameroon. Yes, they do date back in time and they are definitely different- in a good way.
Made the traditional way, it starts with fresh-butchered organic chicken -roasted over open flame with salt and freshly grind pepper only.
Then it is lightly simmered in palm oil with Maggie (chicken bouillon) and served with corn fufu (polenta) and vegetables.
Here is my own version of this chicken; I upped the spices a tiny bit – not much; granulated garlic, onions powder and cayenne pepper (hot dried pepper) before grilling. Included tomatoes to make some sauce.(I hope you don’t mind) . This is what makes this chicken so tantalizing.
If you are not into palm oil or adding oil to your chicken-I hear you!
Forget about the oil-serve with any starchy side oil of choice.
Use fresh chicken, if you can. In my neck of the wood (los Angeles) we have tons of places to get them a little bit pricy but worth it. There are several varieties – hen, rooster and the regular chicken (soft chicken). I like to get the rooster it is lean but the most flavorful of all the chicken- not too tough like the hen and can be fully cooked on the grill. What’s not to love!
Now, don’t even think of throwing away any parts of the chicken. Forget the breast and thighs – the neck, gizzard, feet and back are the best part !!!! No kidding!
Heck, I need to get my moneys worth.
You need to see me munching on them when no one is watching. I will wrestle with dogs for these bones. Beware! Keep your dogs away!
Ok, back to serious matter, I have reduced the amount of oil usually call for in Kati Kati because is just not necessary. HOWEVER, you may add more if you please … don’t let me stop you.
Even if you want to want to add enough to swim in it, have a pool party. Who am I to say no. See I am giving you options here. So go make it
Don’t forget to serve it with this stir-fry vegetable (njama njama) and fufu (cornmeal).
Please let me know how you like it.
Enjoy!
African Grill Chicken (kati kati)
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Ingredients
- 3-4 pounds of chicken skin- on cut up into desired pieces
- 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 ½ tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon bouillon powder , you may replace with salt
- Sauce
- 2 fresh tomatoes
- ½ cup water or more as needed
- Chicken bouillon to taste
Instructions
- Trim chicken of excess fat and pat dry with a cloth or paper napkin.
- In a small bowl combine the spices, onions, pepper, garlic, and Maggie.
- Season chicken with spice rub.
- Preheat a hot barbecue, grill, griddle or frying pan.
- Place chicken on the grill coated with cooking spray; grill for about 20~30 minutes, rotating sides or until browned and almost cooked.
- Blend tomatoes and set aside.
- Heat up a large saucepan over medium heat –add palm oil to the pan and tomatoes puree. Sauté for about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally
- Transfer the chicken to the saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat, spooning the sauce over the chicken to coat.
- Add about 1/2-1cup of water cover and cook until the chicken is well flavored by the sauce 4 to 5 minutes and thoroughly cooked through. Adjust for seasonings and oil
- Remove from the heat and serve warm with fufu and njama njama.
Nutrition Information:
Sanaiyah Seizeme says
Hi i was wondering if this would go good with jollof rice
Imma says
Hi Sanaiyah, I never try it but sounds like a good combo, once you try let me know how it goes. Thanks 🙂
athuman says
Hi, I like your African recipes
Soon i will try to cook kati kati. this recipe from where?
imma africanbites says
Hi, This is one of the dishes of the Nkom people in the Northwest province of Cameroon.
Brian says
This is great. My wife was looking for a recipe that we could use to cook our Oba Farms chicken.
Nkimbeng says
This a good Kati Kati recipe but there is one thing I will like to ask I thought back home in the northwest of southern cameroon this Kati Kati in done by first roasting the chicken with the feather so ask to get the native flavor
ImmaculateBites says
That’s correct. This is the modern version- a quick and easy version.
Brian says
Yeah, typically we burn the feathers instead of puck. Sometimes you can pluck them burn to lock in the flavor into the chicken. Very tasty. We get ours done at Oba Farms in the Dallas TX area
Meg says
OMG!, so I have followed you recipes on and off for the last year. Today I decided to look through and girl you are taking me back!! I just had to leave a comment for this recipe. I have been wanting to eat Kati Kati, but not seriously craving it. I will make my own water fufu thanks to you. Does adding baking soda help the fermentation process? I made some seriously banging eru, and will wait to eat some home made water fufu. The powdered stuff at the grocery store is trash
Thanks for the recipes, will embark on trying each one, please keep them coming!
ImmaculateBites says
Totally Agree with the store- bought powdered stuff. No don’t even want to know…
I have never tried it with Baking soda. Would be really curious to know if it helps the fermentation process.Thanks for trying out my recipes and good to know they are working out just fine.
Sheila Burke says
Hi, and thank you for the delicious recipe. MAy I ask what Maggie is?
Thanks,
Sheila
ImmaculateBites says
It’s chicken bouillon or granules. It will be a great substitute here.
Cynthia says
I love Kati Kati so much,but I have to learn how to cook it,thanx for dat wonderful recipe
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Cynthia, you are not the only one , I do too! Do make it and let me know how it works for you.
Karen @ The Food Charlatan says
Girl you sure know how to do chicken. This sounds soooo good! I need to stop being lazy and buy some not-frozen chicken. Time to put on your big girl panties Karen. haha!
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
wow that is some seriously good looking chicken! i love the recipe too – anything spiced ticks all my boxes. yum!
ImmaculateBites says
Thanks Thalia – they are truly spiced! Thanks for taking the time to comment,
Geoge says
I love this recipe soo much but I tried with spinach leavs and no tomatoes!!!For the chicken I first smoke it then grill on charcoals covered with palm leavs
Imma says
Nice! Thanks for sharing, George.
Charlene @ that Girl Cooks Healthy says
This looks so divine, would love to know what the greens are on the side? They look similar to some Caribbean callaloo. Anyway, I look forward to trying out this recipe, your humour certainly permeated throughout the entire post.
ImmaculateBites says
Thanks Charlene.The greens are African Shade, however, you may substitute with callaloo. Let me know when you try it.