Traditional muamba de galinha: the Angolan chicken stew with palm oil, okra and pumpkin

Muamba de galinha is the dish Angola chose to represent itself, and it is Sunday food in Luanda. Muamba is the pulp of the oil palm fruit, cooked and strained, a dark orange, fatty paste that gives the stew its color, earthy flavor and the sheen of oil on the surface. Outside Angola, red palm oil and palm oil paste play the part.

The chicken, preferably free-range and in large bone-in pieces, cooks slowly with onion, garlic, tomato, bay leaf and gindungo, the small and very strong Angolan chili, and at the end receives the okra and pumpkin, which soften and thicken the broth. It is a one-pot dish that takes time, like all the great African stews.

The side is funge, the firm mash of cassava or corn flour, stirred with a wooden spoon until smooth and stretchy, served as a ball on the plate and torn by hand to scoop up the sauce. White rice is the alternative for those without the flour.

Recipe card

• Origin: Angola
• Category: Main course, chicken stew
• Difficulty: Easy
• Preparation time: 30 minutes (plus 1 hour of marinating)
• Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 chicken of 1.8 kg in large pieces
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup red palm oil (or 3 tablespoons regular oil plus 1/3 cup palm oil)
• 1 gindungo chili or 1 fresh red chili, chopped (or more, to taste)
• 300 g pumpkin in large pieces
• 12 whole okra, tips trimmed
• 1 cup water or stock
• Salt to taste
• Funge or white rice to serve

Method

1. Season the chicken with the lemon, garlic, bay leaves and salt and let marinate for 1 hour.
2. In a large pot, heat the palm oil on medium and sauté the onion for 8 minutes, until golden.
3. Add the chicken with its marinade and brown the pieces on all sides for 10 minutes.
4. Add the tomato and chili, stir and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Pour in the water, cover and cook on low for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Add the pumpkin and cook for 15 minutes.
7. Add the okra and cook for another 15 minutes, until everything is tender and the sauce thick and orange, with the oil on the surface.
8. Adjust the salt and serve with funge or rice.

Tips and variations

• Cassava funge: boil 1 liter of salted water, add 300 g cassava flour little by little, stirring with a wooden spoon, and cook on low, stirring, for 10 minutes, until firm and pulling away from the pot.
• Free-range chicken gives the authentic flavor and needs 30 more minutes of cooking.
• Whole okra does not make the sauce slimy; cut, it thickens more.
• Beef muamba follows the same recipe, with 2 hours of cooking.
• Palm oil has a strong flavor; start with less and add more.
• Freezes well for 3 months.
• A small dish of gindungo mashed with salt and lime goes to the table for those who want more heat.

Muamba de galinha is the orange of palm oil, the tenderness of pot-cooked chicken and funge for dipping. It is Angola on a Sunday, and worth the wait.