Full-on flavour chicken with plantain and vegetables was inspired by the Cameroon poulet DG recipe. The balance of sweet and salty in this dish works so well together to give a taste out of this world. It is not only delicious but also nutritious. You can incorporate many vegetables into the dish and still get the fussy eaters to eat it.
This is not the traditional recipe. It is my take on poulet DG, working with the ingredients I had at home. I must warn you that there is a lot of chopping, so this chicken and plantain recipe is not the quickest to make. However, at the end, you get a tasty dish that does indeed feel special to make it worthwhile. It is hearty and indulgent at the same time and can be eaten as a complete meal on its own or served on a bed of rice.
What Is Poulet DG?
It is one of Cameroon’s most popular plantain recipes, and DG is an acronym for directeur général. “Poulet” is chicken in French, while “directeur general” means boss – so “boss’s chicken”. It started out as a meal for the affluent people, but the ingredients are now more accessible. It is now popularly served at parties and special occasions.
Poulet DG is traditionally prepared by frying bone-in chicken and plantain separately before cooking in a spicy sauce with colourful vegetables. I have adapted the traditional poulet DG recipe to be a bit “soupy” with smaller ingredient pieces, as it is winter here now. My chicken and plantain recipe has a good balance of nutritious ingredients, and it is the ultimate comfort food, which makes it perfect for this weather.
Recipe For Chicken With Plantain & Vegetables
Here are the ingredients you need...
A few notes about the ingredients
- Plantain: You need ripe but firm plantain for this recipe, as the sweetness is key to the dish's flavours. Overripe plantain will not work due to being too soft. It will become soggy in the sauce. You can grill the plantain in the oven or cook in the air fryer if you don’t want to fry.
- Chicken: You can use any chicken cut for this recipe; legs, drum sticks, thighs etc. If you are using big pieces of bone-in chicken like thighs, you will need to season, then fry or grill the chicken before adding into the sauce.
- Vegetables: This recipe is adapted; feel free to use your favourite vegetables, cut into whichever size you prefer.
- Chopped tomatoes: I used canned chopped tomatoes. You can substitute with six medium sizes tomatoes, chopped.
How To Make It
Cut the chicken into smaller pieces. Season with salt and keep aside.
Peel the plantain by cutting off the two ends. Cut into the skin, down the length of the plantain. Use your fingers to remove the skin from the plantain and cut into round shapes.
Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the plantain until both sides are light golden colour. Remove from heat and keep aside.
Peel, then slice the onion. Chop the garlic finely, grate the ginger and strip the thyme leaves from the stem.
Grate the carrots and slice peppers and the mushrooms.
Add two tablespoons of oil into a saucepan and pour in the chicken pieces. Cook until the pieces are no longer pink. Transfer the chicken and the broth into a bowl and set aside.
Add three tablespoons of oil into the pan and pour in the onion. Fry until soft.
Pour the garlic, ginger, ground pepper and nutmeg into the pan. Stir for 30 sec, then add the tomatoes with thyme and some salt to taste.
Cover the pan and allow to cook for around 10 mins, then add the chicken and the broth.
Cover the pan and allow to cook for 5 mins before adding the peppers, mushrooms and carrots.
Stir the vegetables into the sauce and taste for salt. Add more salt if required. Cover the pan and allow the vegetables to cook in the sauce for around 5 mins.
Add the fried plantain and use a wooden spoon to mix into the sauce gently. Be careful as you don’t want the plantain to turn to mush.
Reduce the heat and leave for a further 5 mins, then remove the pan from heat and serve.
Recipe FAQ
Chicken with plantain and vegetable will keep in a sealed container for 3 days in the fridge. As a matter of fact, it tastes better the next day, so be sure to make more than you can eat at once.
Where can I buy plantain? You can get plantain in African, Caribbean and Asian shops or on Amazon.
Related Recipes
Other delicious plantain recipes which you must try;
Green Plantain Porridge With Seafood
Airfryer Boli (Roasted Plantain)
Kelewele (Spicy Fried Plantain)
Harissa Plantain With Fish Sheet Pan
Chicken With Plantain And Vegetables
Ingredients
- Oil For frying
- 5 tablespoons Cooking oil
- 2 Ripe Plantain
- 2 Chicken breasts big
- 1 Onion
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 3 cm Ginger thumb size or 1 teaspoon grated
- 1 teaspoon Nutmeg powder
- 1 teaspoon Ground Pepper/Pepper flakes
- Fresh thyme a few sprigs or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 can Chopped Tomatoes or 6 medium size
- Salt to taste
- 2 Green Bell Pepper
- 2 Red Bell Pepper
- 1 cup Mushroom
- 2 Carrot medium size
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into smaller pieces. Season with salt and keep aside
- Peel the plantain and cut into round shapes.
- Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the plantain until both sides are light golden colour. Remove from heat and keep aside.
- Peel, then slice the onion. Chop the garlic finely, grate the ginger and strip the thyme leaves from the stem.
- Grate the carrots and slice peppers and the mushrooms.
- Add two tablespoons of oil into a saucepan and pour in the chicken pieces. Cook until the pieces are no longer pink. Transfer the chicken and the broth into a bowl and set aside.
- Add three tablespoons of oil into the pan and pour in the onion. Fry the onions until soft.
- Pour the garlic, ginger, ground pepper and nutmeg into the pan. Stir for 30 sec, then add the tomatoes with thyme and some salt to taste.
- Cover the pan and allow to cook for around 10 mins before adding the chicken and the broth.
- Cover the pan and allow to cook for 5 mins before adding the peppers, mushrooms and carrots.
- Stir the vegetables into the sauce and taste for salt. Add more salt if required. Cover the pan and allow the vegetables to cook in the sauce for around 5 mins.
- Add the fried plantain and use a wooden spoon to mix into the sauce gently.
- Reduce the heat and leave for a further 5 mins, then remove the pan from heat and serve
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