Kienyeji chicken has far more flavour than broiler, but it is also firmer, because the birds grow for months and move around. Cook it like a broiler and it comes out tough. Cook it low and slow and it becomes tender, with a rich sauce and a broth worth drinking on its own.
Below is a classic Kenyan-style kienyeji stew, followed by boiling times and other ways to cook it.
Kenyan kienyeji chicken stew
- Serves 4-6
- Prep 20 min
- Cook about 1 hr 45 min
- About 1 hr with a pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 1 Improved Kienyeji chicken (1.2-2 kg, slaughtered and cleaned), cut into pieces
- 2 large onions, sliced
- 3-4 ripe tomatoes, chopped or grated
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated
- 1 green pepper (hoho), sliced
- 1-2 carrots, sliced (optional)
- 1 tbsp tomato paste (optional)
- 1 tsp curry powder or chicken masala (optional)
- 1 green chilli, chopped (optional)
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- Salt to taste
- About 1.5 litres of water
- A handful of fresh dhania (coriander), chopped
Method
- Start the boil. Rinse the chicken pieces and put them in a large sufuria with enough water to cover. Add a teaspoon of salt and half the garlic and ginger. Bring to the boil and skim off the grey foam that rises.
- Simmer until tender. Turn the heat down, cover and simmer gently for 1 to 1.5 hours, topping up with hot water if needed. It is ready when a fork slides easily into the thigh. In a pressure cooker this takes about 25-35 minutes once it reaches pressure.
- Keep the broth. Lift the chicken out and set it aside. Keep the broth: you will use some for the stew and can drink the rest as supu.
- Brown the chicken (optional). For deeper flavour, fry the boiled pieces in a little hot oil for a few minutes until golden, then set aside.
- Make the base. In a clean sufuria, heat the oil and fry the onions until soft and golden. Add the rest of the garlic and ginger and the chilli, and stir for one minute.
- Cook the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste and curry powder. Cook, stirring, for 8-10 minutes until the tomatoes break down into a thick sauce and the oil starts to separate.
- Bring it together. Add the chicken, hoho, carrots and 1-2 cups of the broth. Simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes until the sauce thickens and coats the chicken. Taste and adjust the salt.
- Serve. Stir in the dhania and serve hot with ugali, chapati, rice or mukimo, and sukuma wiki or kachumbari on the side.
How long to boil kienyeji chicken
Times depend on the age of the bird, so always check with a fork. These are good starting points:
| Bird | On the stove (gentle simmer) | Pressure cooker |
|---|---|---|
| Young Improved Kienyeji hen | About 1 - 1.25 hours | About 20-25 minutes |
| Mature Jogoo (rooster) | About 1.5 - 2 hours or more | About 30-40 minutes |
| Broiler, for comparison | About 30-45 minutes | About 8-10 minutes |
Tips for soft, tasty kienyeji
- Simmer, don't boil hard. A rolling boil tightens the meat. Keep the water just bubbling.
- Jogoo needs more time than a hen. Roosters have firmer meat. Plan an extra 30 minutes or more.
- A pressure cooker saves gas and charcoal. It cuts the cooking time by more than half.
- Never throw away the broth. Drink it as supu with a squeeze of lemon and dhania, or use it to cook rice.
- Start with a fresh bird. Chicken slaughtered fresh, never frozen, cooks more evenly and tastes better. Ours is slaughtered to order.
- It tastes even better the next day. Leftover stew keeps in the fridge for 2-3 days. Reheat it until piping hot.
Other ways to cook kienyeji
Kienyeji choma (grilled)
Boil the whole or halved bird with salt, garlic and ginger until almost tender. Then brush with oil, lemon juice and crushed garlic and grill over charcoal, turning often, until the skin is crisp and smoky. Serve with kachumbari and ugali.
Fried kienyeji
Boil the pieces until tender, drain well and pat dry, then shallow-fry in hot oil until golden and crisp. Season with salt and a little pepper or masala.
Kienyeji soup (supu)
Simmer the chicken with onion, garlic, ginger, a carrot and dhania stems for 1.5-2 hours. Season, add chopped dhania and serve the broth in mugs. Many families give it to people who are unwell or recovering.
Cooking questions
Why is my kienyeji chicken tough?
Almost always because it was not cooked long enough, or was boiled too hard. Kienyeji needs a gentle simmer for 1-2 hours, or a pressure cooker. An older Jogoo needs longer than a young hen. Keep cooking until a fork slides in easily.
Should I boil kienyeji before frying or grilling?
Yes. Boil or pressure-cook it until nearly tender first, then fry, grill or add it to a stew. Frying raw kienyeji leaves the meat tough.
How long does kienyeji take in a pressure cooker?
About 20-25 minutes for a young hen and 30-40 minutes for a mature Jogoo, counted from when the cooker reaches pressure. Cooker models vary, so check with a fork and add a few minutes if needed.
Get a fresh kienyeji chicken
Slaughtered and cleaned for your order, never frozen. From Ksh 1,200.
