Chicken Stew

I can not remember if I have shared this before that in our culture on your wedding night your family takes you to your in-laws house. Actually your sisters, and aunts(father’s sisters) take you and if you do not have a wedding this is how you move to live with your husband. This is called kuperekwa. You pack all your clothes and all the presents you got on your bridal shower and or wedding. You do this to show your in-laws that you are prepared to start your new home. When you get to their gate (most people have a fence or a wall around their home) you sit down covered with a blanket and sit on the ground, usually in the dirt unless if you are lucky cement or lawn. You are not allowed to move until your in-laws give you money usually token amounts depending on how rich and stingy they are. You do this until you get to the kitchen or lounge depending on whether you are in the rural areas or city. You are not allowed to talk or laugh. Your in-laws will try to make you laugh but you have to keep a straight face, oh and sit cross-legged the whole time.  Your in-laws may actually be having your wedding after party but you are not allowed to take part on it.

Your in-laws will decide when you sleep or eat on this night. Next morning you and your family members have to wake really early to sweep the whole yard, do any dishes and boil water for your in-laws to bath with. Each person who takes a bath must leave money in the bathroom or bucket. You also have to provide them with soap and moisturizer. Long ago people would use peanut oil. You will also have to make breakfast and lunch for everyone present. For most, the lunch is sadza rezviyo and chicken stew(using an old chicken).

I have been on both sides of this process and it can go either way. It can be fun or a nightmare that you will never forget. If your in-laws do not like you or are just cruel they will make you suffer. They can make you sit outside for a long time while it’s cold outside and you can not really leave or the morning after they can give you so much work to do. I once accompanied a friend and the family did not give us any blankets,. Never mind that there were no beds. So we slept on my scarf.  It as the longest four hours of my life.

My sister was telling me that she accompanied her friend and for the lunch they gave them a “broiler” chicken. They were given instructions to stew the meat. It is not the easiest chicken to stew as the meat is very tender so a lot of people usually grill or fry the chicken.

I have tried a couple of recipes to try to find a fail-safe recipe. In Zimbabwe people usually boil the meat first which makes it difficult to then brown it and then make a sauce.

I marinated this chicken overnight in garlic, ginger, soy sauce, honey, paprika and red pepper flakes.

The honey does not make the chicken sweet. It helps caramelise the chicken when you brown it.

After browning the chicken I added the vegetables and flour. The flour helps thicken the stew. Poured in the chicken stock and brought it to a boil. Simmering the chicken on low heat helps it cook while it is still intact. If you are making this chicken ahead then I would cook it for about 30 minutes and then reheating it for 10 minutes before serving.