This is Part Two of a four-part series on cooking Nigerian food with my dear friend Yemisi Awosan. You can see Part I on this Iyan/Fufu (Pounded Yam) Recipe post. Enjoy!
OBE ATA Stewed Meat Recipe
Total Time: 3 hours
Prep: 30 Min
Cook: 2 ½ hours
Yield: 6 to 8 Servings
Ingredients
-6 lbs. – 10pcs Chicken; Drum sticks & thigh (You can combine or only use Chicken, Smoked turkey, Beef, Goat or Fish)
-2 Medium Onion (Spanish/yellow)
-2 tablespoons of salt
-4 ½ cups of Chicken broth
-8 Cubes of Goya or Knorr bouillon cubes – Chicken flavored
-1/2 lb. plum tomatoes
-2 medium size red peppers
-1 or 2 medium size scotch bonnet peppers (very, very spicy)
-1/2 cup of Vegetable oil
Directions
1. In a saucepan, combine washed meat, 1 tablespoon of salt, 4 bouillon cubes, ½ medium diced onion and six cups of water. Let the mixture boil on medium heat for 30 min. Place the chicken in a 350-degree oven on a baking sheet lined with foil and let it bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until it is golden brown on both sides. (To get both sides to brown, turn the chicken after it has been in the oven for 15 minutes.) Save the broth.
2. In a saucepan, combine sliced plum tomatoes, bell pepper (with the seeds removed), one medium-sized onion, scotch bonnet pepper and ½ a cup of water. Let the mixture boil on medium heat until the water dries out. (This should take about 30 minutes.) Remove the saucepan from the fire and set it aside to cool. Pour the cooled tomato mixture into a blender and blend until it has a smooth consistency.
***To reduce the hot flavor, the scotch bonnet pepper seeds can be taken out before boiling the pepper.
3. Pour ½ cup of vegetable oil into a dry saucepan and let heat using a medium fire for 5 minutes. (To make sure that it is hot enough, drop one of the diced onion pieces in the oil. If it sizzles, then it’s hot enough). Dice ½ of the onion and pour it into the heated oil and stir until the onion is soft and translucent.
Pour the blended tomato mixture into the saucepan. (Be careful, because this will splatter as it heats up. Pour 1 cup of chicken broth into the mixture to stop the sauce from splattering). Add 1 tablespoon of salt and 4 bouillon cubes to the mixture and cover. Let it cook for 15 minutes and then add the rest of the chicken broth (3 ½ cups) and let the mixture boil down for another 30 minutes. After that, pour the chicken into the boiling sauce. Let it cook for another 15 minutes and serve the meat.
You can eat the obe ata with okra and pounded yam. As an alternative, it is also tasty with boiled white or brown rice and beans or bread.