Pom (Surinamese Chicken and Tayer Root Casserole)

Ingredients

• 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 700g)
• 1/2 onion, plus 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
• salt, black pepper, and freshly grated nutmeg
• 500g pomtajer (tannia/tayer root), peeled and finely grated (substitute taro root if unavailable)
• juice of 2 oranges
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp piccalilli relish, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 tbsp butter, plus extra for greasing

Before you cook

• Season the chicken thighs all over with salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg
• Peel the pomtajer root and finely grate it, wearing gloves if your skin is sensitive to the sap
• Squeeze the oranges and lemon into a bowl and keep the juice together
• Finely chop the piccalilli
• Chop the small onion and roughly chop the celery
• Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F)
• Grease a medium baking dish with butter

Steps

1. Put the seasoned chicken thighs into a pot with the celery, the half onion, and 1 garlic clove
2. Cover the chicken with water by about 2cm
3. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat
4. Reduce the heat and simmer the chicken for 25 minutes, until cooked through
5. Lift the chicken out of the pot and set it aside to cool, reserving the broth
6. Remove the skin and bones from the cooled chicken and shred the meat into bite-sized pieces
7. Strain 1 cup of the reserved broth into a measuring cup and set the rest aside
8. In a large bowl, combine the grated pomtajer with the orange and lemon juice
9. Stir the tomato paste, chopped piccalilli, sugar, and a pinch of nutmeg into the pomtajer mixture
10. Melt the butter and stir half of it into the pomtajer mixture
11. Mix the reserved 1 cup of broth into the pomtajer mixture until it forms a thick, sticky mash
12. Spread half of the pomtajer mixture evenly across the bottom of the greased baking dish
13. Layer the shredded chicken evenly over the pomtajer base
14. Spoon 1/2 cup of the remaining broth over the chicken layer
15. Spread the rest of the pomtajer mixture over the top, covering the chicken completely
16. Drizzle the remaining melted butter over the top layer
17. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil
18. Bake covered for 1 hour
19. Remove the foil
20. Bake uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes, until the top turns golden brown and slightly crisp
21. Let the casserole rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving