Chicken And Dumpling Potjie

Keep the winter chills away with a warm, hearty chicken and dumpling potjie.

Serves 6

Cooking Time: 2.5 hours

• 1 x 2 kg chicken, cornish hen or chicken pieces
• 15 ml olive oil, cooking oil or a piece of chicken fat
• 15 ml butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 10 ml salt
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 whole allspice
• 6 black peppercorns
• 1 blade mace or a little grated nutmeg
• 4 small carrots, scraped
• 4 leeks, chopped or 6 spring onions
• 500 ml chicken stock or 250 ml chicken stock and 250 ml dry white wine
• 15 ml lemon juice

Dumplings

• 500g maize flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• water

1. Wash chicken thoroughly under cold running water.
2. Tie wings and legs into position.
3. Heat oil and butter in potjie and brown chicken on all sides.
4. Add onion and sauté until transparent.
5. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
6. Add remaining spices to potjie and arrange vegetables around chicken.
7. Heat liquid in smaller potjie. Add to chicken.
8. Cover with lid and simmer slowly for 1.5 – 2 hours or until chicken is almost tender.
9. Check liquid and add more if necessary as the dumplings will absorb a lot of the liquid.

Instructions for Dumplings

1. Mix flour, baking powder and salt together.
2. Add enough water to form a dough.
3. Knead until smooth, cover with plastic wrap or a damp dishtowel and leave to proof for 35 minutes.
4. Break off balls of the dough and drop into chicken stew and cook for 15 minutes.

Recipe Courtesy of Potjiekos World and Hayden Quinn