Other Cuisines
Marga's Food
marga@lacabe.com
| Mahorais cuisine comes from the island of Mayotte, located in the Comoros archipelago in the Indian Ocean. Mayotte is a department of France, having rejected to become independent and join the other Comoros islands in the 1970s. Its population is mostly Comoran, with a Malagasy minority. Its culture and cuisine its thus similar to that of the Comoros island - itself a fusion of African, Arab and south Pacific flavors with French imperial influences.
As I had already cooked Comoran dishes, this time I made one which is particularly popular in Mayotte:
Mbawa Ya Tomati
Chicken wings with Tomatoes
These chicken wings are eaten in Mayotte and the Comoro Islands. The wings can be fried as such and served with bananas, or cooked in a tomato sauce and served with rice. As with popular dishes, each home cook has their own way of making it. I combined ingredients and methods from several recipes. I decided to brown the wings before the onions, as it's very hard to brown chicken skin otherwise. While paprika, preferably smoked, and cumin were pretty much universal in all the recipes I found that other spices varied. Some commentators spoke about the superiority of fresh turmeric, but unless you have some at home already I wouldn't bother. Same with prepared ras el-hanout.
The sauce was a little bit too liquidy after I cooked the wings, so I removed them and then reduced it on high for a couple of minutes. I was really pleased with the results. The cinnamon gave the dish an exotic flavor without being too overwhelming. The smokiness of the paprika was there just as a hint. The wings were tasty and the sauce was just great. It was a very enjoyable dish all in all.
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Mahorais Chicken wings with Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken wings
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp ras el hanout (optional)
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger (optional)
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamon (optional)
- salt & pepper to taste
- 2 Tbsp palm, peanut or olive oil
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tomatoes, sliced or 1 14 1/2 oz diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp sugar (optional)
Directions
Rinse and pat dry the chicken wings and cut along the articulations. Discard the tips of the wings. Set aside.
In a small bowl, mix together the cumin, turmeric, optional spices (ras el-hanout, ginger and cardamon) and salt and pepper to taste. Rub the chicken wings with the spice mixture.
Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a sauté pan. Working in batches if necessary, add the chicken wings and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside.
Turn the oil down to medium and add the onions and the cinnamon stick. Sauté, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft. Stir in the smoked paprika and sauté for a minute. Stir in the tomato paste. Increase heat to high and add the tomatoes and optional sugar. Add a cup of water and bring to a boil. Return the wings to the pot, cover, turn heat down to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the wings are cooked through, about 20 - 25 minutes. Adjust seasoning.
Serve wings and sauce with rice.
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Adapted from a recipe in by Selina Periampillai's 2019's
The Island Kitchen: Recipes from Mauritius and the Indian Ocean as posted in the Washington Post and several other recipes.
Related cuisines I've explored so far: Comorian, Malagasy, Maldivian, Mauritian
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