Recipe by Herman Lensing @lensingherman
Herman says: Our food treasure chest is filled with a wealth of food gems, and many of those incredible recipes will be great fun to eat. But the wonder of these recipes is that they were born from the hands of African women who had to balance their lives between work, raising children, cooking, managing households and keeping their families going emotionally. I have always known that African women are great planners. If someone finds a shortcut to a process, they hijack it, and then like a secret network, share it with the world to make sure all women can benefit. Years before social media, there were community recipe books. Not only was it a form of raising money for schools, churches and organisations, but it was also women’s way of sharing knowledge among communities that were sometimes very far apart. Nowadays, this has been replaced with social media groups where women still give out advice. Recipes such as mayonnaise cake and chutney chicken are some of the iconic recipes that have come out of these groups. Sometimes the names of these recipes make you wonder, whether you admit it or not. Until you taste it. Then you know what these aunts are talking about. You don’t want to eat, but you can’t get enough. I’ve made it my mission to tackle these recipes new and modern, but the DNA of the recipe remains: good to eat, saves time, and makes you feel safe.
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 250g peach chutney
- 250g mayonnaise
- 350ml of water
- 30g (2 tablespoons) medium curry powder
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the salad
- 400g packet of small cherry tomatoes, halved
- ½ red onion, finely chopped
- a handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
- juice of 1 lemon
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Heat oven to 180°C.
- Using kitchen scissors cut the backbone of the chicken, turn it over, fold the thighs and buttocks outwards and flatten the chicken. Place in an oven grill pan with the skin side up.
- Mix the rest of the ingredients and pour over the chicken. Cover the pan with foil and place in the hot oven for 40 minutes. Remove foil and grill further for 20 minutes or until the chicken is golden brown, basting the chicken with the sauce at regular intervals.
- While the chicken grills, place all the ingredients in a salad bowl, season with salt and pepper and mix. Serve with the chicken.
“If I came home from school in the afternoons, I could smell from the street that my grandmother was baking buttermilk biscuits. Then I stole pieces from the oven that hadn’t finished baking! Of course, Grandma Hanna turned a blind eye.” Lazelle Cronje
