The following three tips will help cheat your way to the perfect kienyeji chicken the luhya way. We guarantee you that these tips will leave your in-laws impressed and satiated.
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3 tips to get the perfect kienyeji chicken
dressing your chicken the right way, culturally
One of the unsung rituals in contemporary Luhya marriage customs has to be that moment when the in laws to-be are on a fact finding mission: ‘Tunataka kujua pahali kijana (au msichana) anatoka’. And because such activities in our cultures are the preserve of senior citizens — who’ve earned the right to demand things be done in a certain way or style — the risk that relations between different cultures brought together by marriage might start off on the wrong footing hangs about like the stink in public toilets. Today to you we say, worry not. Don’t fret if you have landed yourself a mulembe embogo or princess for a husband or wife respectively; today we’ll teach you to how to get the chicken right and set off things to a good start.
Not only will these secrets on kienyeji chicken done right the Luhya way win important allies in the ‘battle’ to win your person’s people over; but the wazee will feel respected as they will be well taken care of. Moreover, you will ‘add respect’ to your parents name for bringing you up so well. What’s more? Your clan and tribe will be proud of you. Why? The praise from your perfect hosting will elevate you to a brand ambassador of your bachelor and spinster cousins.
1. Delicious kienyeji chicken starts with picking perfect chicken
Several considerations here:
Sex of the chicken
As much as possible, match the sex of the chicken to the occasion. For example when celebrating the birth of a baby girl, hens are more appropriate. If the occasion is naming of a baby boy, cockerels only, or mostly, should face the knife. Avoid cultural faux pax like presenting wazee with a chicken that was actively laying, with the ovary and forming eggs still in site. Or serving a brood of women a cockerel with its family jewels intact.
Age of the chicken
The kienyeji chicken shouldn’t be too old or too young. If you are slaughtering a cockerel, it should be one that has just begun to crow (Shitaywa). One way to easily tell the age of a cockerel is by the length of the spur on its shank. This nail like protuberance found on the posterior aspect, just above the toes should ideally be barely be grown and ‘undisturbed’.
However, take note that some unscrupulous chicken traders may attempt to disguise the age of the kienyeji chicken by way of using a hot rod to burn down the spur – much like how you dehorn a – and thus such a burned down spur will definitely appear ‘disturbed’.
For hens, as a general rule, the older the hen the better. However, the older they get, the more chicken fat one has to deal with when cooking. Moreover, a hen that’s ready to lay eggs (known as the inyabuli among the Isukha) is the sweetest as it’s fertile, fatty and cooks fast. Kindly note that a special provision allows one to slaughter a hen that is actively laying eggs. This rare honor represents the ultimate sacrifice in special occasions such as when your mother-in-law comes visiting for the first time.
Health status of the chicken
This is simple, never slaughter diseased chicken. No amount of cooking or chef magic will hide this fact to the discerning palate of a seasoned chicken eater such as that of a luhya.
So how do you avoid this?
When sourcing from kienyeji chicken from your local market, inspect the chicken’s nether areas. The feathers there should be dry and not moist. They should be full and fluffy and not clumped together.
To the eye, the chicken should be active moving about and not looking weak or slow.
Moreover, when you tip over the chicken with the beak held closed, there should be no fluid coming from the chicken nostrils. Neither should the chicken foam around it’s beak. Furthermore, avoid slaughtering chicken that has stayed at the market for too long. We Luhyas believe that the inactivity of being caged in the market makes the taste of the chicken off. After all, our childhood made us believe that the perfect kienyeji chicken is the one you slaughter after chasing it around the farm.
2. Dress your kienyeji chicken the right way
As we saw with the dried fish delicacy kivambara or my favorite traditional vegetable the lisebebe, preparation is key to hitting the right notes of depth in flavors with Luhya food. But before we highlight some key points on dressing chicken the Luhya way, a critical step first. When preparing the perfect kienyeji chicken, one should always lightly ‘roast’ the chicken (khuomia ingokho and kusamba ingokho) over an open fire like that of a jiko. This critical step serves five important functions:
- It makes your dish ‘clean’. It rids the chicken off any remaining feather.
- Drying the chicken over an open flame (khuomia ingokho) helps drain the chicken’s bodily fluids. This helps ‘concentrate’ the flavors by reducing rimisi. Rimisi is that unpleasant ‘chickeny’ aroma that reminds one that a chicken is just a bird.
- Following kusamba ingokho, your kienyeji chicken should be easier to dress. This is because heat form the fire ‘loosens the joints’ and firms up the meat making the chicken friendlier to handle.
- In addition, khusamba ingokho, burning the chicken over an open flame, gives the chicken an appetizing brown color as its roasts.
- Finally, the light open flame ‘roasting’ imparts a delicate smokey flavor to your chicken dish. In addition, it makes the chicken skin crispy as the fat beneath starts to melt. We have to admit that as unhealthy as chicken skin is, it is undoubtedly heavenly when crisp and not soggy.
They key to dressing the kienyeji chicken right is to mind the occasion as well as the profile of your guests
Beyond that, for kienyeji chicken, preparation depends on the occasion. Different occasions call for different types of dressing. For example, among the Maragoli, it is customary for the groom party to be handed a full kienyeji chicken. This chicken is cooked whole in a pot. The only dressing being done to it is disembowelment; but with the emondo (gizzard), head and feet part of the mix.
Remember, this whole cooked chicken is to be carried long distance, therefore it should be cooked in a way that yields little soup. Of importance, according to this Maragoli wedding custom, this chicken serves as the first meal a wife serves her husband, therefore it should be a sizable jogoo. In other occasions, the chicken will be dressed only into quarters. The chicken will then be cooked and served as whole quarters (kinama).
Furthermore, the emondo and isundi must be served when hosting wazees. The safest bet here is to serve the parts and let the wazees decide among themselves who eats what.
3. Why munyu musherekha is a must when cooking kienyeji chicken
Musherekha (maize cob – kamasokoro, plantain peelings, groundnut shell- kamakhobolio or beans stalk ash lye) serves three purposes:
- First, it tenderizes the meat;
- secondly it kills off any hint of rimisi left. This helps bring up the favorable flavors of the chicken;
- by its own right, munyu musherekha improves the flavor of the kienyeji chicken.
Kindly note, when using mushelekha, timing is important. If the kienyeji chicken is tough, add the lye from the outset whilst boiling. If not too tough, add the mushelekha towards the final third of cooking. The purpose here being to kill rimisi. Finally, with some experience, one can know of moments when to add dollops of musheleka for extra oomph, whilst stewing the chicken after sautéing it in onions and tomatoes.
Easy delicious kienyeji chicken recipe the Luhya way
Ingredients
- 1 whole kienyeji chicken See article above for tips on how to pick the right chicken.
- 1/2 cup Munyu Musherekha Refer to the article on how to best use omunyu mushelekha.
- 1 teaspoon Salt to taste
- 4 Big Tomatoes To saute the kienyeji chicken as seen in the video.
- 2 Big Red Onion To saute the kienyeji chicken.
- 1 bunch corriander To garnish your dish. (optional) Remember most wazees like their food as palin as can be
Instructions
- In a pot, add water to a level that’s 3 incjes above the dressed chicken. Add some salt and munyu musherekha if particularly tough. Kindly refer to the article on the other timings of using mushelekha.
- Bring to a boil until the chicken is soft. Drain any excess water once soft and keep it for later.
- Under high heat, let the chicken fry in its own fat. Only add cooking oil if the chicken was not oily.
- Still under high heat, add your chopped onions and fry until well cooked through.
- Reduce the heat and then add tomatoes and cook them through. Let the kienyeji chicken absorb the flavours of the pot, tomatoes and onions.
- Add the chicken broth saved from above and let it cover the meat to a level 3 inches above. Let it simmer until the soup just barely covers the chicken.
- Add dollops of mushelekha for an extra punch of flavor and let it cook through for 10 to 15 minutes under low heat.
- Serve and garnish with chopped coriander.