Benachin

Choose your recipe:
Chicken and Beef Benachin by Adele Faye Njie
Filijee's Fabulous Perch Benachin
Kebbeh Kunda Benachin
Note: "Bena-chin" litterally means "one pot", so if you use more than one pot to prepare these recipes, then you're cheating!


Chicken and Beef Benachin

by Adele Faye Njie

 Ingredients
 
 

Directions
 
 
  1. Prepare, wash and cut chicken into portions. Remove gristle, etc from beef, wash and cut into equal portions.
  2. Mix chicken and beef together. Season with salt, black pepper, pounded garlic and vinegar. Allow to stand for 1/2 hour before cooking.
  3. Prepare vegetables accordingly.
  4. Peel, wash and slice onions thinly.
  5. Fry the chicken in hot oil until brown, turn over and fry likewise. Remove from pan and put aside.
  6. Add beef and fry until quite brown. Add the sliced onions and fry until golden brown.
  7. Placed the washed, scalded skinned and sliced tomatoes to rest of ingredients in pan.
  8. Put the tomato puree and pounded fresh peppers into saucepan. Cook gently for 15 minutes.
  9. Pour in measured water.
  10. Bring to a boil, add all the prepared vegetables, fried chicken, bay leaves and salt.
  11. Remove the chicken and vegetables when cooked and keep in a warm place. Taste seasoning.
  12. Add the washed rice to cooking pot. Put the big sliced peppers and bring to a boil.
  13. Reduce heat and cook under low heat until most of the liquid is absorbed.
  14. Serve. Pile the rice on an oval dish, place the vegetables and chicken on top.

Filijee's Fabulous Perch Benachin

by Anony Mous, Recorded live 1/1/97

 Ingredients
 
 

Directions

 Chop up all ingredients. In a big pot, add enough oil to cover the bottom about 1/4 inch and heat. After the oil's hot, add the chopped garlic. Wait until it's brown (to flavour the oil) and then remove the chunks of garlic. Add the chopped butternut squash and let it cook for 2-3 minutes, and then the fish. Then add the onions and keep stirring. Then add the chopped up green pepper and about 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix in the pureed hot peppers and black pepper. Add 2 cups of water and then mix in the tomatoes. Stir in about 3 spoons of tomato paste and cover the pot. After coming to a boil sprinkle in 2 cups of rice and 2 more cups of water. Reduce heat to simmer. Add additional water and spices as needed. Add in the cabbage. Wait for the rice to do its thing, and you're all set. 


Kebbeh Kunda Benachin

Ingredients (all available at the Serekunda market in Gambia) Directions
  1. Clean all the fish and add salt. (The bonga fish is to add flavour.)
  2. Start heating the oil in a deep pot.
  3. Chop up the onion
  4. Prepare the "Nokas" as follows: pound pepper (red and black) together. Add 1/2 of the chopped onion to the pounded pepper mixture and continue to pound. Add 1 big jumbo. Set Nokas aside.
  5. Squish the tomatoes separately and add the other half of the chopped up onion mix.
  6. Put cleaned fish in whole into the hot oil. Oil should cover the fish about 1/2 of the way up.
  7. Sprinkle crushed tomatoes/oinion mixture onto the frying fish.
  8. Dilute the tomato paste with water until runny and add to frying fish.
  9. Don't stir the frying fish mixture but wait until the oil is red (from the tomato paste).
  10. Add 1 can of water to the fish.
  11. Add bitter tomato and pumpkin (choppped up into big pieces). Add salt to taste.
  12. Rinse rice off twice. Don't overwash.
  13. Put rice in metal collander over boiling mixture to steam. Seal gap with a rag.
  14. Take fish out and veggies when cooked. Set aside. Leave the broth in the pot.
  15. Add Nokas to the broth. Add steamed rice to finish cooking.
  16. Reduce heat. Cook rise until only oil is left.
  17. Eat.

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