Chicken Yassa - chicken with lemon from Gambia & Senegal ⋆ SOULFOOD.nl

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Chicken Yassa (or how they call it in Senegal: Yassa Poulet) is a classic dish from West Africa. You will find this delicious stewed chicken in both Gambia and Senegal. The dish gets its flavor from onions, lemon and mustard. Truly a heavenly combination!

Gambia or Senegal?

But is it a dish from Gambia or from Senegal? Well, actually from both countries! The thing is, the Gambia and Senegal are not really two separate countries. It is the same area in West Africa and actually Gambia lies within Senegal. The English colonized the area around the river 'the Gambia' and made it a separate country. The rest around it belonged to the French and was called (too) Senegal.

Nonsense of course, because in such an area different tribes have lived for centuries and they don't care about a border that Europeans have invented because it suited them. The Mandinkas, Wolof and Fula (there are more tribes, but these are the 3 largest!) just speak their own language and therefore all call this dish differently.

Due to colonization, it has also been given a different name in the two countries. Chicken Yassa (English) in Gambia and Yassa Poulet (French) in Senegal. But we are talking about the same thing!

What goes in the chicken yassa?

For the chicken yassa we use one chicken, and then immediately use all the parts. We also analyze it ourselves. Not interested in this? Then you can of course also buy pieces of chicken. Drumsticks or thigh pieces are then best suited, because they are a bit fatter and remain nice and tender after stewing.

In addition to chicken, the yassa poulet / chicken yassa also contains a lot of onions, no less than 5 pieces! Combine it with garlic, lemon and a generous spoonful of mustard and you have guaranteed success.

Prefer a video?

Would you rather watch a video of this recipe? You can! In the video below I show you how to make the chicken yassa in one minute:

Chicken yassa / Yassa poulet • make this classic from Senegal / Gambia yourself now! #superdushichef

Ingredients: (4 servings)

1 chicken, cut into pieces*
(or use 3 chicken legs)
3 onions
2 lemons
3 tsp mustard
5 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp stock powder
OR 1 stock cube (chicken)
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp sunflower oil
optional: green olives and hot pepper

Preparation of the chicken yassa

Cut the chicken into pieces and remove the skin. Cut large pieces of chicken (drumstick / thigh) first, so that they cook faster.

Now cut the onions into strips and then finely chop the garlic. Then put these together with the chicken pieces in a large bowl.

Then squeeze the lemons and add them to the chicken, together with the mustard, the stock powder and the pepper. Mix everything well (with your hands!) and then put the chicken in the fridge overnight to marinate.

When you are going to make the chicken yassa, heat the oil in a large pan. Then add the chicken (with the onions and all the marinade) and finally add the bay leaves.

Let the yassa poulet / chicken yassa cook for 30-40 minutes. Finally, remove it from the pan. Do you like it better when the skin of the chicken is fried crispy? Then fry the chicken pieces (without the onions) in some oil.

Serve the chicken yassa with rice and a slice of lemon – enjoy!