Angola is a former Portuguese colony in Southern Africa, having gained their independence in 1975. With their independence day coming up on the 11th, I decided to make a version of Angola's national dish: muamba de galinha. Technically I didn't use the two main ingredients that give this dish its name--chicken and palm butter--so I wouldn't try to serve this to an Angolan, but it was close enough for me. Since there is a variation of this that uses peanut butter/sauce instead of the palm butter or oil, I decided to add peanuts on top to mimic that flavor without altering the recipe too much.
I started with a couple packages of seitan, the closest thing you can buy to meatless chicken. This version is sort of flavored, but isn't as intense as the kinds you can get in barbecue sauce and whatnot.
The "chicken" was marinated in garlic, lemon juice, and chili pepper. I used piri piri, which is common in Southern Africa, and now popular in Portuguese food due to colonization.
Once the seitan finished marinating, I added it to a pot with onion and quartered tomatoes.
After the tomatoes broke down, I added some vegetable broth.
And once that had boiled down a bit, I threw in some roasted butternut squash and frozen okra.
In the last 15 minutes or so of the stew cooking, I started some corn funge, which is cornmeal boiled into a stiff ball. It's a staple food known as many different things in different African countries. I've actually made it before for Botswana--called pap there. I's also commonly known as fufu and can made from other starchy ingredients as well.
Cornmeal is probably the easiest ingredient to work with. It's kind of like making grits but the grains are finer and the result is thicker so it can be used to break off pieces like bread to dip into food.
The process is pretty simple: boil some water, whisk in the cornmeal gradually, making sure no lumps form, then beat the hell out of it with a wooden spoon--I mean, stir it vigorously. I have a blister on my thumb from stirring it. I can only imagine how much harder it would be with cassava or other ingredients.
More authentic funge would probably not really be seasoned, but I added salt to suit our tastes, plus a little butter because it helps the cornmeal form into a nice smooth ball. It's actually a great way to soak up sauces, or to eat like grits with some eggs in the morning.
The chicken stew dish is actually eaten often in several other countries, so I may have to try it again with actual palm butter if I can find it, as I'm interested to see how this dish should actually taste!
Recipes Used: Muamba de Galinha // Corn Funge (Pap recipe at bottom)
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