Nkrakra is a slow-cooking light and spicy broth from the cookbook “Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen’

This light and spicy broth is so wholesome and warming. It’s my go-to dish on chilly winter days to stave off cold symptoms … and it works every time!

If you’re happy to go low and slow while cooking, this dish from my cookbook, “Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen,” is perfect for cheaper cuts of chicken, such as from older hens or broiling hens - you get tons of extra flavor but need to slow-cook for three to four hours over a low heat.

The chalé sauce recipe is based on my Dad’s everyday cooking sauce. He would whip this up and then throw in any type of meat, fish or protein, but it was always tasty. It’s my version of a Ghanaian passata and is in some ways similar to the Nigerian atta din din.

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You can just blend the ingredients and store the uncooked sauce for later use, or cook it and then leave to cool - either way, it saves time when making many of the recipes in this book. I make a big batch at least once a week. You can easily double the quantity if you want to make a bigger batch, although it’s not necessary to increase the Scotch bonnet unless you like it extra-extra-hot!

I love to serve this dish in a traditional Ghanaian asanka pot with a ball of fufu on the side, as it looks so inviting that way. You can also serve it on its own in a large bowl garnished with cilantro or with a slice of slightly toasted sourdough bread on the side.

Nkrakra (Light Soup with Chicken)

Serves 4 to 6 (with leftover sauce)

Ingredients

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Chalé Sauce:

7 ounces canned tomatoes or 10 ounces fresh tomatoes
1 roasted red bell pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 small white onion, roughly diced
1-inch piece fresh root ginger, grated
1 small red Scotch bonnet chili (use half and de-seed if you have a low heat tolerance, or substitute 1/2 teaspoon cayenne for a milder heat)
1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes
2 garlic cloves (optional)
Sea salt to taste
1 teaspoon extra hot madras curry powder
1/2 teaspoon extra hot chili powder

Nkrakra:

8 to 10 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs (about 4½ pounds)
3 tablespoons sustainable red palm oil
1 onion, finely diced
10 sprigs fresh thyme
4 to 5 guinea peppers, cracked open
1 teaspoon extra-hot chili powder
1 Scotch bonnet pepper, pierced
3 garlic cloves, finely diced
2 teaspoons sea salt
10 ounces Chalé Sauce
2½ to 3½ cups good-quality chicken stock
Freshly ground black pepper
2 inches grated fresh ginger
8 ounces white cabbage, sliced (optional)
4 ounces yam, peeled and diced (optional)
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced (optional)
Sprig of cilantro, to garnish (optional)

Directions

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Place all the chalé sauce ingredients in a blender and blend until you have a fairly smooth paste. Set aside. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days, or freeze for future use.

Place the chicken in a large, heavy-based saucepan or Dutch oven with the sustainable red palm oil, onion, thyme, peppers, chili powder, garlic and 1 teaspoon of the sea salt. Cook together over a low heat, partially covered, until the juices start to run from the chicken.

Pour the chalé sauce over the chicken mixture, then cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Stir in the stock and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about one hour until the chicken is tender. Season to taste with pepper.

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Add your choice of vegetables, if desired, and cook until tender, approximately 30 minutes. Remove the sprigs of thyme before serving.

Zoe Adjonyoh is a writer, chef and food-justice activist on a mission to popularize African food. She previously owned an online single-origin spice shop and founded the platform Black Book.

Excerpted from “Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen” by Zoe Adjonyoh. Copyright (copyright) 2021 by Zoe Adjonyoh. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. New York, NY. All rights reserved.