Botswanan Chicken in A Hole Recipe
Chicken in a Hole is a traditional Botswanan barbecue method where a whole chicken is cooked underground. The chicken is wrapped in cabbage leaves and aluminum foil, then placed in a pit with hot coals to slow-cook to perfection.
Ingredients
- Whole chicken - 1
- Large garlic cloves, peeled and quartered - 16 pieces
- Large onion, peeled and studded with 6 whole cloves - 1 piece
- Cabbage leaves - 12 pieces
- Chicken stock cube - 1 cube
- Paprika - 1 tbsp
- Mixed herbs - 2 tsp
- Curry powder - 2 tsp
- Dried chilli - 1 tbsp
- Salt - 1 tbsp
- Vinegar (for cleaning the chicken) - 2-3 tbsp
Instructions
- To start, wash the chicken with water mixed with vinegar to ensure it is properly cleaned.
- Make sure to pat dry all the cleaned chicken.
- Insert and distribute the garlic cloves as evenly as possible between the skin and flesh of the chicken.
- Pulverize the dried chillis, salt and all other spices using a mortar and pestle to make a paste.
- Rub the paste all over the chicken and coat it evenly inside and outside.
- Insert and stuff the peeled onion into the chicken until it reaches its cavity.
- After that, get the cabbage leaves and wrap them around the chicken.
- Use a cheesecloth or muslin to wrap it, then wrap it again using at least three layers of aluminium foil.
- Botswana’s tradition is to cook the Chicken in a real cooking pit.
- To do that, you should dig a hole that is about 90 centimetres deep and 30-45 centimetres wide. After that, get pieces of wood slats and cover the hole.
- Then put the hot coals at the bottom that has sand sprinkled all over it. It’s now time to put the foil-wrapped chicken on top of the coals.
- Make sure to cover the layer of coals with more sand to fill the hole completely and evenly. Before leaving it to cook and slow-roast for 3 hours and 30 minutes to 4 hours, mark the cooking spot using a rock or a stick.
- After 3 to 4 hours of slow roasting the chicken, dig it up and then make sure to shake the sand off.
- Carefully unwrap the chicken and serve it whole on a platter.
Nutrition
Calories: 426kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 40gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 107mgSodium: 1608mgFiber: 8gSugar: 12g
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