Liberian chicken gravy- African Stew with lots of flavor, chicken, and seafood. Oh, refrain from eating the whole thing.
I love stews!
And I have sure made a lot of them.
This scrumptious stew right here, will awaken your taste buds and make them fall in love; What’s not to love?
It is loaded with chicken, fish and shrimp – yet another variation of stew. However, the bell pepper makes all the difference here, adding another layer of flavor. You seriously need to make this.
This variation, with its fragrant combination of garlic, bell pepper, tomatoes and herbs is a classic African stew combination.
This Liberian way of cooking stew, is utterly flavorfully (both green and red bell pepper) are coarsely grounded and cooked down, until most of the water is gone. Then stock is added to boost flavor and give it moisture.
You know what? Chicken, fish and shrimp comes together quite naturally in this recipe, however, they are fully cooked independently, before incorporating them in the stew.
If you want to omit the fish, the chicken and shrimp stand well on their own.
As with most African stews quite a lot of oil is used to cook the stew often use to fry the tomatoes for a period of time to reduce the amount of acidity present in tomatoes. Here only a few tomatoes are used because of the use of red bell pepper. So you do not have to go crazy with oil- (adjust according to preference) or drain after cooking. You know what when am really trying to cut back on calories I use little oil and still enjoy it.
The basic ingredients for this stew are some sort of protein (chicken, fish, beef shrimp) tomatoes, tomato paste and spices according to taste.
I often don’t go to the trouble of frying the fish at home, to include in stew I buy fish from the fish market and have them do the work. Cuts down on cooking time. You may do the same. Or omit completely. Of course you can’t serve this without check rice.
Stew lovers you have to got to make this
Enjoy!
Liberian Chicken Gravy
Ingredients
- ¼ -1/2 cup cooking oil vegetable, canola, corn
- 2- 3 pounds chicken cut up
- 1 ½-2 pound fried fish steaks any firm fish
- 1 pound large shrimp cleaned and deveined
- 2 -3 large red bell peppers
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1-2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 -3 fresh tomatoes
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 5 garlic cloves
- ½ teaspoon ginger chopped
- 1 or more scotch bonnet or habanero pepper
- ¼ cup basil and parsley
- 1 Tablespoon chicken bouillon optional
- 1/2- teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil chicken with salt, pepper, paprika, chicken bouillon and some chopped onions in a medium pot until tender. Cooking time varies according to chicken.
- Reserve the stock for later use.
- In a food processor or blender, blend tomatoes, bell pepper, onions, garlic and herbs.
- Add ½ cup oil to heavy-duty pot/pan, and then add the bell pepper blend followed by tomato paste.
- Sauté for about 10-15 minutes, to blend all the flavors reduce acidity of the tomato sauce. Stir the pot frequently, as the sauce simmers. You may add reserved chicken stock or water to
- Next add chicken, fried fish with about 2 cups of stock-let it simmer for another 10 minutes
- Throw in shrimp if using any – cook for another 3-5 minutes
- Finally. Adjust seasonings, soup consistency with water/chicken stock, maggie and seasonings
Tips & Notes:
1. Tomatoes: you can use canned tomatoes , fresh tomatoes or both. Roma tomatoes is preferable because of its dry skin, it’s more flavorful and makes for a thick stew with less acidity
Onions: you can use any variety, couple with green onions. Chopped or puree together with tomatoes.
2. Spices: There are few spices that are often used in stews depending on ones preference - curry, white pepper, paprika, garlic, bay leaf and ginger.
3. Herbs: Commonly use herbs are basil, parsley, celery, and thyme.
Vegetables: use any vegetables like carrots, green beans, green
Nutrition Information:
Mike says
Can’t wait to try this but I have one question. When do the spices get added. I didn’t see them on the ingredient list but in the section after instruction “ curry, white pepper, paprika, garlic, bay leaf and ginger.” Thanks!
ImmaculateBites says
You can add it on the last step Mike. 🙂
Darrow Molder says
Wish instructions were a tad clearer, such as wear to find or how to make fried fish, not having paprika in the ingredients list and when to add cayenne, but it turned out absolutely incredible. One of the best dishes my family has ever tasted. Thank you for the authentic recipe!
Immaculate Bites says
Thank you so much, Darrow! 🙂
Jewel says
Can this be made with just the chicken?
ImmaculateBites says
Yes, it sure can.
Jennifer McClelland says
I have a friend who is from Liberia and he is feeling a little homesick right now. I would love to be able to cook him a traditional Liberian meal. Do you have any recommendations and recipes?
imma africanbites says
Awww.. That’s so sweet of you, Jennifer. You can check out more Liberian meals here >>> https://www.africanbites.com/?s=liberia
J Bell says
Jennifer McClelland I am assuming you already made the dish, so this info is good for if you wish to make a second set of dishes for your friend.
1. Pepper Soup is pretty much a staple. It is also one of the easiest to make. This is a good starting place.
2. Consider asking your friend where they are from in Liberia. Different counties have different “specialties.” An easy example that I heard all the time was people from Lofa County made a lot of Torbaghee (not sure on the spelling).
3. If you want to make your friend feel like it is a special occasion, Jollof Rice or the above Chicken Gravy are good places to start.
Be aware that everyone cooks all of these dishes a little differently, so if you try to cook something exotic your friend may not recognize the dish simply because your method of prep is different than they were taught. That is why I put Pepper Soup as number 1.
ImmaculateBites says
Thanks for taking the time to share this with us .
ImmaculateBites says
It’s 1-2 Tablespoon tomato paste .