I know by the name of this dish that people might be a bit put off. Some of you might be wondering what Guinea Fowl is; how it looks and if it is even edible? Well don’t worry I thought the exact same thing before I tasted it. Admittedly I didn’t even know if guinea fowl was some type of bird or not, but yet the dish peaked my interest. Something in me was intrigued enough to try it….so let me tell you the story from the beginning….
….As you all know I am in Zambia at the moment, so the other day my dad, aunts and uncle all decided that we should go out and eat some “soul food” from a local Zambian restaurant. Now I’ll admit I didn’t really know what it would be like, honestly I was a bit skeptical, but I went along anyway. When we got there I was relatively impressed by the setup so I was a little bit more optimistic about the food. I chose to eat the Guinea Fowl, because I wanted to try something different; looking at it I realized that it was a bird and I told myself that it must be like village chicken. And much to my surprise or maybe not so much of a surprise, indeed it was similar to village chicken but different at the same time. It was tasty and cooked well, with lots of flavour. Needless to say I thoroughly enjoyed my meal and was very impressed with it. So here you have Guinea Fowl casserole.
Preparation & Cooking: 2 hours
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil/ sunflower oil
- 15g butter
- 2 guinea fowl, cut at the joints
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 5 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 250g small onions, peeled and cut in quarters
- 200g mushrooms
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
- 3 chicken stock cubes
- 750ml water
Method
Preheat the oven to 170 ? C / Gas 3.
Prepare your guinea fowl, cut it at the joints and rinse under warm water, then set aside.
Add oil and butter to a large casserole dish, place on the stove and melt over medium/high heat; then add all the guinea fowl a piece at a time, season with salt and pepper, and brown on all sides. Add the carrots, onions, whole mushrooms and garlic around the guinea fowl.
Dissolve the stock cubes into the 750mls of boiling water and pour over the whole bird and vegetables. Cover and bake in the oven for 90 minutes. Check the guinea fowl occasionally. Remove the lid 15 minutes before the end of cooking.
Serving
Guinea fowl is great because it can be served with near enough anything. I enjoyed this with Nshima made with Cassava and some traditional Zambian veggies. You can also enjoy this with rice, couscous or potatoes. Either way enjoy!!
Kanta Temba is a cake maker and decorator. She is also the owner and founder of Kanta Kakes – cake shop.
You can find her work on www.kantakakes.com. Follow her on twitter @KantaKakes and Instagram @KantaTemba.
Oh Dear Kanta! Most Zambians know what Guinea Fowl is AND eat it in season!! I mean it’s a wild bird roaming the lands at warm periods ( I expect some farmer may raise them too). But for the village people and people living in remote farms it’s not unusual to bag one or two if you’ve got a strategy to get around their speed! Delicious, but I like mine roasted and served with a complex Gravy with enough acidic content to play on the palate. I have bought some in UK but they are usually boney! Good luck
Now who us this that minus ones me on the vote button?! Are you like a hater or something! What’s wrong with this comment!
This is what we want kanta . Keep giving us Zambian meals we really appreciate !
In Cibemba, the bird is known as ikanga (singular), amakanga (pl.). When you are in the bush hunting for birds and small animals and your mate shouts, “ikanga ilyo” (“ikangelyo!”) literally meaning “there is a guinea fowl!” please do not head into that direction hoping to gun down the delicious bird, you may end up in a lion’s mouth! This is a warning of danger while hunting…
I love guinea fowl as much as I love chicken. Adequately boiled with a bit of salt beats them all for me.
In theory this is ravishing but the presentation again is a let down…I think LT should invite the good chef Kanta at least once a month and rotate with other chefs. She is spreading herself thin and photo images are now being compromised.
in kikaonde nkanga(single) and ba nkanga(plural)-very taste indeed!