The African Gourmet serves up this Smothered Chicken South African style recipe. Smothered Chicken or Inyama Yenkukhu is a classic South African dish.

Simple delicious and made with love this South African dish goes well with South African yellow rice and raisins. Inyama Yenkukhu is a South African dish that is similar to Smothered Chicken and Gravy in the Southern United States.

Smothered Chicken is a southern comfort food dish. This version of Inyama Yenkukhu uses the same ingredients as smothered chicken and is an easy tasty dish where the chicken is first lightly fried and then gravy is created.

African recipes by African Gourmet

Inyama Yenkukhu is a South African dish that is similar to Smothered Chicken and Gravy in the Southern United States.

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min

Ingredients
3 chicken thighs with skin
3 chicken legs with skin
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Heat oil in a large frying pan and season chicken with salt and pepper. Place each piece of chicken in the flour covering completely and fry until the skin is a light golden brown. Add remaining ingredients; simmer for 30 minutes until chicken is tender.

The Igbo, a tribe in southeastern Nigeria, consider the Kola-nut tree to be the first tree on earth; the Kola-nut or Oji and Nzu or chalk has significant meaning to the Igbo. The Igbo consider the Kola-nut to be a representation of friendliness and compassion.

Selling Kola-nut in the market

Kola-nut tree

The Kola-nut is a bitter caffeine-rich chestnut-sized fruit borne seed of a 20 feet high evergreen tree native to tropical Africa. The Kola-nut is a rough, skinned fruit that grows up to 8" long. See how the kola nut fits into African plant symbolism in the Kola Nut Hub.

Inside the pod is the actual kola seed is thin with a white flesh but bright red inside when the seeds are sliced. Kola trees are native to West Africa found from Togo to Angola, Liberia to Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and Nigeria.

The caffeine-containing seed smells a bit like rose petals. Kola nuts also have a reputation for treating headaches. By chewing the caffeine rich Kola-nut the caffeine is extracted, caffeine is considered as a cure for headaches. The original Coca-Cola beverage was made with an extract of kola nuts and coca leaves.

[Read: Perfect Warrior Igbo Story.]

Igbo tribe

The Igbo, a tribe in southeastern Nigeria, consider the Kola-nut tree to be the first tree on earth. They consider the Kola-nut to be a representation of friendliness and compassion.

Igbo people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa and Oji (kola nut) is the first thing served to a visitor in an Igbo home. Kola-nut or Oji is served before an important centerpiece in many ceremonies and festivals. In addition, the breaking of the Kola-nut or Oji in an Igbo wedding is an ancient tradition rich in Igbo cultural customs representing love, harmony, unity, honesty and high esteem.

Nzu, a type of chalk or clay also plays a great role of social importance in Igbo culture. In Igbo society it is presented with a kola-nut or Oji to guests having a religious reflection of traditional Igbo goodwill.

It also is a symbol of happiness conveyed by the host. Kola-nut or Oji and Nzu (chalk) has significant meaning to the Igbo because of the breaking, blessing and sharing of Kola-nut or Oji is a tradition which has been handed down from ancestor to ancestor for hundreds of years. This is why the Igbo consider the Kola-nut tree to be the first tree on earth.

Teff is the tiny seed of a grass native to Ethiopia and Eritrea known as lovegrass.

Teff is a grass, small-sized fine grain that grows mainly in Ethiopia and Eritrea. 

What is Injera bread? What is Teff Flour?

Injera bread is a flatbread traditionally eaten in the African countries of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Injera bread is thicker than a crepe but thinner than a pancake. In making Injera, teff flour is mixed with water and fermented over several days however, wheat flour or all-purpose flour can be used however, the taste and texture changes.

Eating with Injera bread is stable in some African households in order to eat dishes of vegetables, meats, and stews. Injera bread is used in place of utensils using pieces of Injera to pick up bites of food. Injera bread is eaten daily in all most every Ethiopian and Eritrean household. The Ethiopian dish Spicy Red Lentils goes perfectly with injera.

Teff is a grass, small-sized fine grain that grows mainly in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The grain is tiny and has a very mild, nutty flavor. Due to its very small size, teff cooks quickly and is naturally gluten-free. Ground into flour, teff is used to make the traditional bread, injera. The teff crop’s history traces back thousands of years as a reliable staple crop.

According to the BBC Ethiopia currently has a long-standing ban on exporting the teff grain, either in its raw form or after it has been ground into flour. Instead, entrepreneurial Ethiopian companies can at present only export injera and other cooked teff products, such as cakes and biscuits.

Teff grass in Africa and the United States

Teff is a staple crop in Eritrea and Ethiopia where it is a native annual grass species but is not widely known around the world. The very small seeds are cooked or fermented and have good nutritional content. Teff grass is a warm-season annual grass traditionally used as a grain and forages in Ethiopia it is adapted to the high-altitude tropics growing well at temperatures 50 to 85° but requires an 11 to 13 hours to flower.

Teff grass was introduced to the United States in the late 50s early 60s but still largely remains unknown. In the USA, teff grass is getting a lot of popularity as a late and for some very good reasons. Farmers in Oklahoma, Texas and New England were trying to look for alternative ways to make up for a fodder grazing and hay shortage. Teff grass is a warm-season grass with a very fine stem super high-quality hey type product. Horse people love teff grass because of his extreme palatability.

Because of its fine stem, Teff grass needs to have at least 65 to 70 degrees soil to plant. The seed size is very tiny so you cannot plant very deep or it's not going to grow. It grows extremely well in the heat has exceptional drought tolerance. Teff is a rapid drying grass, unlike sorghum. Teff grass grows so well in optimal conditions, in 23 days the grass can grow 20 inches tall. To see if Teff grass is going to be major forage crop in the USA, well it depends on how the market responds.

Farmers in the United States may be new to planting Teff however in other parts of the world it has been around for thousands of years. Teff is believed to have originated in Ethiopia between 4000 and 1000 BC; the seeds were discovered in a pyramid and 3359 BC. Since then the seeds have been widely cultivated and is used not only in Ethiopia but in neighboring African countries as well.

Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, and Djibouti use Teff grass to make flour. Teff flour can be used in a number of things such as cereal, bread, cookies, and other snacks. Today the African Gourmet will be teaching you how to make Ethiopian flatbread called injera bread. Injera is made using teff flour, this ancient grain has a lot of fiber and protein and iron in it and it is a great nutritional source. Now making Injera bread is an overnight process and for best results, a three-day process because you want to get a nice sourdough type flavor. You can use water in your recipe but you can use flat beer, specifically dark beer for a nice rich flavor.

Fermented foods prepared from major cereal crops are common in many parts of Africa. Some are used as beverages and breakfasts or snack foods. Injera is thin fermented bread that is usually made from cereal grass named teff. It could also be made from other cereals like barley, sorghum, and corn. The fermentation process is started by using dough saved from the previously fermented dough.

Injera is the most popular baked product in Ethiopia. The fermented bread has a very sour taste and is the undisputed national bread of Ethiopia. The baked product is referred to by different names depending on the locality of production in Ethiopia. It is referred to as bidenain Oromigua, taeta in Giragigua, and solo in Walaytigna.

Injera Sourdough Flatbread Recipe

History of African food is traditional such as homemade injera bread. How to make delicious Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti and Eritrea injera bread in African households comes with practice.

Injera Sourdough Flatbread Recipe

Ingredients
2 cups teff flour
2 cups of water or flat beer
¼ teaspoon salt
Vegetable oil for coating the pan

Directions
Mix flour, water, and salt. Put the batter aside overnight or up to three days to ferment. The batter will start to bubble and obtain its well-known tartness. Heat a lightly oiled cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. In a large mixing bowl add all ingredients and lightly mix well. Heat a lightly oiled cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Coat skillet with a thin layer of batter. Cook until holes appear on the surface of the bread flip and repeat cooking on the other side. Cover completed bread with a damp cloth.

Together we build awareness that boost harmony, education, and success, below are more links to articles you will find thought provoking.

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Sorghum: The Fifth Most Important Cereal Crop in the World

Sorghum is a gluten-free whole grain and the fifth most important cereal crop in the world, grown for food, porridge, and beer. In Africa, nations such as Nigeria and Sudan are leading producers, and in some regions like Burkina Faso and Sudan, sorghum provides up to one-third of total daily calories.

Recently, sorghum has gained popularity in the United States for its gluten-free benefits and nutritional value. Unlike many modern grains, sorghum grown from traditional hybrid seeds is naturally non-GMO, retaining its nutrient-rich outer layers.

Uji — Kenyan Sorghum Cereal

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup sorghum
• 3 cups water

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a medium pot. Stir well and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Serve warm with butter and sugar to taste.

Did You Know?

Sorghum thrives in hot, dry regions where other grains struggle, making it a lifeline for food security in climate-stressed parts of Africa.

Sorghum as Food and Beer

Sorghum is eaten in many forms across Africa. It is cooked whole, ground into flour for flatbreads and porridges, or boiled like rice. Common sorghum foods include:

• Flatbread — usually unleavened, fermented or unfermented.
• Thin or thick porridge — a staple in many African homes.
• Boiled grain dishes — similar to maize grits or rice.
• Deep-fried grain snacks.

Another important use is traditional beer brewing. Sorghum is the key ingredient in opaque beer — a mildly alcoholic, low-filtered African drink. In Southern Africa, brands like Chibuku are popular commercial versions of this home-brewed style.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Nigeria’s temporary barley import ban boosted the production of sorghum-based beers, creating a thriving local industry.

Easy African-Inspired Meals to Try

1. Yedoro Stir Fried Ethiopian Chicken Dinner
2. Caldo Verde Portuguese Kale Soup
3. Air Fryer Black Eyed Pea Dumpling Stew