Fonde (Millet Porridge with Dried Fruit)

Fonde is one of my favorite porridges. I have had it for breakfast, as a snack or even for dinner sometimes when I am too tired to cook or had such a major lunch that dinner becomes an afterthought. It has a certain comfort food quality to it. Maybe soft and warm foods take us back to childhood. In my case, I think the texture mirrors that of one of my favorite foods as a baby: Cerelac, the original one, not all the ones with fancy flavors. I have to confess that I continued to eat Cerelac well into a certain age range that shall remain undisclosed.

Fonde is made from millet flour mixed with a bit of water and rolled into tiny granules by hand. God Bless our mothers who sat under mango trees rolling fonde or picking burnt grains from rice or doing one of the myriad processes in the African kitchen that take a lifetime. Nowadays, we thank those who saw and seized the opportunity to dry and package fonde granules. The dried granules keep very well, especially if you pop them in the freezer. I usually buy a bunch of bags when I travel to Dakar.


Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of fonde granules
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/4 cup of lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1 1/2 liters of water
• A handful of dried raisins and apricots or any other dried fruit available

Preparation

1. Bring water to a boil. Note: Bringing the water to a boil first is important here since the granules will dissolve into mush if the water is not at the right temperature.
2. Slowly add the granules while stirring. They will tend to stick to each other a little so keep stirring and separating.
3. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 30 mns but do check in every few minutes as fonde requires a bit of supervision in order not to stick and/or dry out. Even though I have a certain amount of water in the recipe, please feel free to add a bit of water if it gets too thick while cooking.
4. It is cooked when the granules puff up (a bit like couscous does) and you obtain the porridge consistency you would seek in oatmeal.
5. Sprinkle the dried fruit on the hot porridge. The heat will soften them.
6. Serve warm.

Oxtail Soup

Soup is a staple of cold evening menus but it is also a big part of life in hot climates. Hot and very spicy soup actually helps lower our body temperature by forcing the eater to sweat profusely. This may explain many Africans' love of spicy stews. This oxtail soup is quite simple (no hard-to find-ingredients) can be as spicy as you want it to be. This version is, I believe, moderately so. Enjoy!

Oxtail Soup

Ingredients

• 500 g of oxtail (or stewing beef)
• 1.5 liters (6 cups) of water
• 1 large onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 to 3 chilies
• 1 teaspoon of ground pepper
• 2 to 3 bay leaves
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut in large chunks
• 2 medium potatoes, cut into quarters
• Salt
• 1/2 cup of vermicelli or capellini broken into tiny pieces
• 2 to 3 coriander leaves for garnish

Preparation

1. Place oxtail and water into a large pan and bring to a boil
2. Mix onion, garlic, chilies and ground pepper into a paste
3. Add to boiling soup and salt to taste
4. Add bay leaves and reduce temperature to simmer, covered for 1 1/2 hours
5. Add carrots and potatoes and cook for 30 mns
6. Add vermicelli and cook for 10 mns
7. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Yassa (Chicken with Lemon and Onions)

Yassa is one of the more popular dishes out of Senegal. Probably because the ingredients are readily available in most places (no smelly-but-oh-so-yummy, difficult-to-get-by-customs ingredients!) and it can be assembled relatively quickly once you get the pieces in place (marinating the chicken beforehand).

One of its drawbacks, however, is the peeling and slicing of what will seem like a lifetime supply of onions. So I was very pleased to find a solution on page 16 of the newest addition to my cookbook collection: Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater. Clever, that British chap! See below.

Yassa
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 8 pieces of chicken (e.g. 4 thighs and 4 legs)
• 165 ml (2/3 cup) lemon juice ~2 to 3 lemons
• 85 ml (1/3 cup) lime juice ~2 to 3 limes
• 4 to 5 big onions
• 50 g of butter (~3 tablespoons)
• 1 liter (4 cups) of water
• 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced in thin rounds
• 1 small tomato, cut in 4
• For seasoning: 1 onion, 1 clove of garlic, 2 to 3 chilies, salt and pepper
• 8 to 10 olives
• Steamed white rice
• Garnish: 1 lemon and/or 1 lime, sliced thinly

Preparation

Advance prep required: Add lemon and lime juice, a pinch of salt and pepper to the chicken. Cover and refrigerate. Marinating the chicken for at least 3 hours, ideally overnight, is critical. I have tried to cut corners and the result does show, especially on non-free range poultry.

1. Preheat oven to 200°C
2. Remove chicken from the fridge and let it return to room temperature (~30 mns)
3. Peel the onions and cut in half
4. Place onions in a baking/roasting dish and break pieces of butter on them
5. Add a pinch of salt and pepper
6. Roast until tender and soft (~30 mns). Turn halfway through roasting time when one side is brown. Note: Baking the onions is one way to avoid the river of tears that come from having to slice so many onions. The idea comes one of my cookbooks (Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater). He came up with this idea while trying to solve the tears problem inherent in making french onion soup.
7. When onions are ready, slice with fork and knife into small strips
8. Simultaneously (or before or after the onions roasting), remove chicken from marinade (save marinade) and grill the chicken. The goal here is to get nice browning. The chicken will be cooked again so no need for full cooking right now.
9. Warm up a large pot and add onions with remaining butter from roasting pan for 3 mns of additional caramelising
10. Add 1 liter of water to (dirty!) roasting pan, release whatever stuck to the pan with a wooden spoon and pour in the onion pot
11. Add the marinade you set aside earlier, the grilled chicken, the carrots and tomato
12. In mixer, combine elements for seasoning (see ingredients list) to make a paste and add to stew pot
13. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let it simmer for 30 to 45 mns (depending on toughness of chicken)
14. Add olives and season to taste: a bit of salt, a touch of lemon juice, etc...
15. Simmer for another 10 mns and serve with steamed white rice, with slices of lemon and/or lime for garnish