It really shouldn’t have been a surprise that the soups and stews of Botswana have a strong European influence, in particular Dutch and English, after all, there has been a historical presence of both – in particular the British, from whose colonization Botswana only gained independence in 1966. I would say that from what I’ve been able to glean, most of the soups tend towards the stew end of the spectrum, fairly thick and rich. And while I didn’t find any pocket type breads in the cuisine, I did seriously consider making diphaphta, which are sort of like puffy English muffins. In the end though, the majority seemed to lean towards dumplings being added to more liquid soups, while a cornmeal pap is served alongside thicker, drier stews. Between a few different styles of dumplings, I picked Matlebekwane dumplings, which are added to the soup during the last 30 minutes of cooking. And, among the various soups, I chose a Chicken Potjie, a word I assume is the Dutch version of potage, a thick soup or stew.

 

Our mise-en-place for the soup, starting from the left – 250 gm (1/2 lb) button mushrooms, 4 green squash (probably not the kind of squash used in Botswana, but I haven’t a clue which one would be), some celery stalks, a green bell pepper, an ear of corn, 1 carrot (yes, I know there are 2 there, but when it came to chopping them up, it was clear that 1 was going to be plenty), 2 medium onions, 2 cloves of garlic, 4 each of chicken legs and thighs, 3 thick rashers of bacon, 200 ml (3/4 cup) cream, 2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp each of dried thyme and sage, 250 ml (1 cup) white wine, and 250 ml (1 cup) of chicken stock.

 

For the dumplings, 220 gm (2 cups) of pastry/cake flour (low gluten), 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, and enough water to bring it together – about 150 ml. Right off the bat, this is a mistake. The disagreement in various online recipes of yeast dumplings versus baking powder dumplings should come down heavily on the yeast side…. Because the baking powder dumplings come down on the heavy side all by themselves. These would have been far better if they’d puffed up from letting yeast rise before adding them to the soup, instead, they were dense and chewy.

 

Mix the dumpling ingredients together – and, assuming you follow my advice, use instant yeast, and let the dough double in size while you get started on the soup.

 

Brown the chicken in 2 tablespoons each of vegetable oil and butter, remove and set aside – leave the oil, butter, and chicken fat in the pot.

 

Dice the bacon and cook in the fat mixture until lightly browned. Now you’ve got four different fats going – believe me, this gives the whole thing an amazing flavor. And remember, there’s cream coming down the line too.

 

Chop and add the onions, garlic, celery, green bell pepper, and carrot to the bubbling fat, along with the salt and pepper, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until softened.

 

Add the chicken pieces back in, along with the wine and stock. Bring back to a simmer, cover the pot, and let it cook over the lowest flame for an hour.

 

Already looking good….

 

Add the other vegetables – the mushrooms can be left whole, the squash sliced into bite sized pieces, the corn removed from the cob – plus the dried thyme and sage. Mix together well, bring back to a simmer, cover, and cook 30 minutes.

 

Divide the dough into walnut sized balls. If you’re using yeast, cover them and let them rise again during this 30 minute cooking time, just to get a little lighter and airier.

 

The vegetables should be nice and soft, and rendered out a good amount of their liquid.

 

Nestle the dumplings into the soup. I’m going to assume that if they’re yeast ones and a little lighter, you might want to settle them in with a spoon rather than pushing them in like the baking powder ones. Cover and cook 10 minutes.

 

Even the baking powder ones puff somewhat, just not to a nice softer texture. Add the cream and stir it through, then cover the pot and cook another 20 minutes. So total cooking time is around 2-1/4 hours. I did the chopping as I went, there was plenty of time between each addition, so the only additional time is getting the ingredients together at the beginning.

 

After 20 minutes, doesn’t that look yummy? You could stir in a little fresh chopped parsley here if you wanted….

 

But we just dished it up into bowls – a leg and a thigh per person, plus a couple of dumplings, and a perfect dinner for a cool fall evening!

Heading back closer to home next time when we explore an entry from our neighbor to the east, Brazil.