Growing up we had one tradition that our family always did and that was Sunday Lunch spent at our Grandmere's house. Grandmere's house was a traditional Seychelles house on the beachfront where my dad and his siblings grew up and my cousins and I grew. The house represented the heart of our family and hold many memories for everyone in our family.
All the mothers would contributed by bringing a dish or two of their own for lunch but Grandmere was in charge of the main dish: Chicken Stew. Okay I know that I have posted this post in "Creating My Own Cookbook" Section but this is my take on the dish I grew up on every Sunday.
It was one of my regrets that I never got my Grandmere to teach me how she made her Chicken Stew, growing up I was more interested in eating the stew than learning to cook it. But when I got older and my passion for cooking grew all I ever wanted was to learn from her but I always said I have time to do that. But eventually that time ran out and I never had the chance to learn from her.
A year or so after she passed away, I had a craving for her chicken stew so I thought I would attempt to cook the Chicken Stew from the flavours I could remember. Let's just say, it took me several attempts and many different spices, flavour profiles and different ingredients until I finally felt that I had managed to cook what I felt was my Grandmere's Chicken Stew.
Although I thought I had got it almost right, I needed to try it out on my father and uncle to get the seal of approval. I still remember the night I served them that stew and without asking him how it tasted my dad said "This stew is tastes just like the stew Mami used to make". That was all I needed to hear and somehow I felt closer to my Grandmere.
So below is my version of My Grandmere's Chicken Stew:
(P.S. I don't have quantities written down as I just put together the appropriate amount of ingredients for the amount of meat you're cooking)
Ingredients:
Chicken Thighs & Drumsticks (Skin On preferably)
You could use Chicken Breasts but it will dry up and will not add richness to the sauce
Potatoes (Chopped)
Carrots (Chopped)
Red Onions (Chopped)
Tomato Sauce
Tomato Paste
Worcestershire Sauce (The ingredient that turned it from Chicken Stew to Grandmere's Chicken Stew and it really makes the difference)
Parsley
Thyme
Salt
Pepper
Oil
Chicken Stock
As with most dishes, you start off with sautéing the onions in the oil then add in the chicken pieces and brown the meat. Add in the potatoes, carrots, tomato sauce, tomato paste, parsley and thyme mix well.
Add in the salt and pepper as well as the Worcestershire Sauce and let simmer. Cover the meat and vegetables with enough chicken stock to cover the meat but not to make an excessive amount of sauce. Bring the dish to the boil then reduce the heat to a medium low and let it cook until the meat starts to come off the bone (generally it takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour).
Ideally, you should serve the Chicken Stew with Red Lentils, Pumpkin Chutney and Cange (a traditional Seychelles Rice Dish, which is basically mashed rice ... a recipe for another post).
This recipe is one that is really close to my heart and whenever I prepare it for my family it allows us to remember our Grandmere.