Luwombo

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (about 1.5kg), jointed into 8 pieces
• 8 large banana leaves, or 8 sheets of baking parchment plus foil
• 150g smooth groundnut paste (unsweetened peanut butter)
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 2 tbsp oil
• 400ml water, warm
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 red chilli, chopped (optional)
• Matooke or rice, to serve

Before you cook

• Joint the chicken into eight pieces and season them with 1 tsp of the salt and the black pepper.
• Pass each banana leaf briefly over an open gas flame or hot coals until it turns glossy and darkens slightly, which makes it pliable and stops it tearing.
• Wipe the softened leaves clean with a damp cloth.
• Chop the onions, tomatoes and pepper, and crush the garlic.
• Whisk the groundnut paste with 200ml of the warm water until it is smooth and pourable with no lumps.

Steps

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat and brown the chicken pieces for 3 minutes a side, working in batches.
2. Lift the chicken onto a plate and lower the heat to medium.
3. Cook the onions in the same pan for 8 minutes until soft and golden.
4. Add the garlic, ginger and ground coriander and cook for 2 minutes.
5. Stir in the tomatoes and green pepper and cook for 6 minutes until saucy.
6. Pour in the thinned groundnut paste and the remaining 200ml warm water.
7. Simmer the sauce for 10 minutes, stirring often, until it thickens and turns a shade darker.
8. Season the sauce with the remaining salt and the chilli if using, then take it off the heat.
9. Lay a softened banana leaf flat and set two chicken pieces in the centre.
10. Spoon over a generous ladle of the groundnut sauce.
11. Gather the four corners of the leaf up over the filling and tie the bundle closed with a strip of leaf or kitchen string.
12. Make three more bundles the same way.
13. Set a steamer basket or a rack over 5cm of water in a large pot and bring the water to a boil.
14. Sit the bundles on the rack, cover them with a few extra banana leaves, and put the lid on tightly.
15. Steam for 1 hour 30 minutes on a low steady boil, topping up the water every 30 minutes so the pot never runs dry.
16. Lift one bundle out and open it carefully, watching for the steam, and check the chicken pulls easily from the bone.
17. Serve each bundle unopened at the table so everyone gets the burst of smoky steam.