Hulda
Poulet DG is a popular Cameroonian recipe. Its name comes from the French Language and this means Chicken for Director General (DG). This meal bears this name because it was consumed only by a minority of the population during the colonial era. This minority was “director general” or “managing directors”. This situation was so because the population did not easily have the financial means to have chickens.
Even when I was still a child, we rarely cooked this meal at home; not because we didn’t like it, but because we didn’t have the means to cook it regularly. It was mostly prepared during Christmas or for big celebrations. Fortunately, things are different today in Cameroon, many families have the means to cook the meal today.
What ingredients do I need for Poulet DG?
The main ingredients are chicken, yellow plantains, and vegetables. Then we need spices like garlic, ginger, white pepper of Penja (or any other white pepper), celery, spring onions (or leek), onions, tomatoes, parsley, basil, salt, oil, and water (or chicken stock).
The preparation process for Poulet DG
First of all, you need to marinate the chicken with half of the spice blend (1 onion, spring onions, garlic, ginger, parsley, white pepper, and thyme) and let it rest for at least 30 minutes (you can also do this first step a few hours before the cooking, for the chicken to marinate well). Meanwhile, you clean the yellow plantain, cut them into small pieces, then deep-fry them. Then you can either deep fry the chicken or roast them in the oven. I prefer roasting them because it is healthier that way. While the chicken is roasting, you can chop the onion, tomatoes, and vegetables and put them aside.
The cooking process of the Poulet DG
Here, you just need to mix all the prepared ingredients. First, you put oil into the pot, then add onion and tomatoes. When this tomato base is well fried, add the vegetables progressively (the green beans first because it takes more time to cook than the other vegetables, then the carrot, then the bell peppers). Don’t let the vegetables cook too much, it should still be a little bit crunchy when you add the plantains and the chicken. Please follow the description below for more details.
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Poulet DG
Ingredients
- 1 kg chicken
- 8 yellow plantains
- 2 onions
- 4 fresh tomatoes
- 400 g green beens
- 5 carrots
- 2 bell peppers
- 1 head of garlic
- 30 g ginger
- 4 spring onions
- 2 tsp parsley leaves
- 1 tbsp thyme
- 2 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp dry basil
- salt to taste
- oil
Instructions
- Pour the oil into the pot, then the chopped onion and simmer for about a minute.
- Add the chopped tomato into the pot and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes. Remember to stir the mixture regularly or it could burn.
- When the tomato is cooked, add 3 tablespoons of the spice blend (1 onion, spring onions, garlic, ginger, parsley, 1 tsp of white pepper and thyme) and salt, stir-fry for a few minutes at low heat.
- Add the green beans and water, let it simmer for a few minutes, then add the chopped carrots.
- After about 2 minutes, add the chopped bell peppers, let it simmer for a few minutes.
- Add the fried plantains and mix. If the mixture is dry, add more water because plantains will suck the water.
- Add the roasted chicken, the remaining 1 tsp of white pepper, basil and mix well.
- The meal is ready. Enjoy!
Video
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