I’ve been doing the chicken, mango and pasta potjie and various versions of it for quite a while, but never documented the recipe. So here goes. It is a very simple potjie that can be done in 2 hours’ time. It is delicious, but definitely not a banting option.

This recipe will easily make enough food for 6 – 8 people

Ingredients for the chicken mango pasta potjie

• 1.8kg of chicken thighs or drumsticks or a combination
• 2 large onions, chopped (I used one red onion and one normal onion. The red onion gives a nice, sweet taste and also some colour to the dish)
• Half a bulb of garlic, peeled and then squashed with the side of a knife and chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 red/orange pepper, chopped
• 250g brown mushrooms cut into slices
• 750ml mango juice
• 500g penne pasta
• 500 ml water (I used 750ml, see Tips below)
• 250ml fresh cream
• 25ml tomato paste
• 50ml chicken spice or chicken masala
• 5ml black pepper corns crushed
• 3 chicken stock cubes
• 7.5ml smoked paprika (or normal paprika)

Instructions

The cooking is done in a black cast iron pot over an open fire.

Fry the onions, garlic and green pepper in a bit of oil until the onions become translucent. Remove half of the ingredients and keep it in a container.

Add the chicken, chicken spice (or masala) and the black pepper and fry the chicken until it turns brown. The chicken shouldn’t be cooked through.

Add the juice, water, tomato paste and stock cubes. The juice and water will cool down the pot significantly, so wait until it simmers and then move to a milder heat under the pot. Let it simmer slowly for 1 hour.

Add the penne and cook for 15 – 20 minutes or until it is al dente. Add the red/orange pepper, mushrooms, cream, the mix in the container you removed earlier and paprika and let it simmer for another 10 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat and let it rest for at least 20 minutes before dishing up.

Tips

• Use medium to high heat when frying the onions and chicken and move to a milder heat after the juice starts simmering
• If you use a thick juice (like I did) you may want to add more water and vice versa, if you are using a “diluted” juice you may want to add more juice and less water
• The “resting” of the dish is very important as this give the pasta the opportunity to soak up all the juices
• Instead of frying the chicken in the potjie, you can braai the chicken on an open grill over the fire until it has a nice crunchy outside. The chicken should not be cooked through
• It is important that the chicken meat stays on the bone otherwise you get a very unstructured, mushy dish
• Don’t overcook the pasta taking into consideration the potjie will still “rest” a bit