Togo | Grilled Chicken & Djenkoumé

CLICK HERE FOR THE CHICKEN RECIPE

CLICK HERE FOR THE DJENKOUME RECIPE

Togo is a small country in West Africa that I didn’t really know a great deal about so I wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to Togolese food. I found a few recipes but, given our warm weather, grilled chicken sounded pretty good to me! Djenkoumé (recipe linked in comments) was suggested as a side to go with it so I decided to give that a try too.

Most of the ingredients for the chicken were easy to find but I did have to order red palm oil online. It adds a mild earthiness and sweetness to whatever you cook in it but, with the amount of garlic and ginger in this recipe, it wasn’t all that noticeable to me.

I ended up using two different methods to cook the chicken. I started on the grill but the chicken caught on fire, still unsure if that was the result of user error or a grill issue. After that, I decided to cook up the rest in the air fryer.

The djenkoumé was easy to make. It is basically just stirring things and letting them simmer for a bit.

I ate the chicken and djenkoumé with chopped up tomato, cooked onion slices, and a dipping sauce made from the tomatoEs, garlic, ginger, and spices from the early steps in the djenkoumé process. (It was recommended on one of the sites I visited.)

And I really enjoyed the entire meal! The chicken came out of the air fryer with crispy skin and tender juicy meat. The djenkoumé, paired with the dipping sauce, was incredibly flavorful. The cut-up tomatoes added a lovely brightness and freshness to the whole meal. All in all, it was a really nice meal!

Would I make it again?

Yes! It isn’t difficult to make (as long as your food doesn’t catch on fire) and it made a great dinner for a warm day.