Goat chichinga and sweet potato fries with a shito salsa

I first tried chichinga when I visited Ghana as a child. I recall walking up to the man who sold them at the side of the road near my Uncle's bungalow and exclaiming quite proudly, 'I want 50 cedis kebabs!' Imagine saying that as a pompous eight year old and you can envisage how the vendor probably wanted to roast me on the grill. After paying, I was literally given a bag of about 40 hot and spicy chichingas - for 50 cedis- it's like buying a car with the change from a pint of milk. Wow, one devalued currency meant one happy kid!

As you can see from the picture on the right, these are SERIOUSLY saliva inducing and they're just so easy to make! Chichinga (pronounced che - ching - aah) can be made from a variety of different meats like beef, guinea fowl, chicken and liver and are prepared on skewers similar to the ubiquitous kebab. The typical coating of chichinga combines cornmeal with ginger, chili and grounded peanuts and the finished product is quite firm. I've given my chichinga's a slightly creative egde by using thyme and paprika and teaming them with crisp, sweet potato fries dusted with cumin and a chunky shito salsa which is a fiery Ghanaian condiment eaten with a number of traditonal recipes. So, here's my version and you'll need the following -

Ingredients

200g goat meat cubed           A generous sprinkle of salt         
1 small red onion                 1 tbsp crushed peanuts
1 small green pepper            For the fries
For the marinade               1 sweet potato
1 tsp hot paprika                  1/2 cumin
1/2 tsp peanut/seasame oil    200 ml virgin olive (approx)
1/2 tsp hot cayenne pepper   For the shito
                                                       1/2 tsp black pepper             1 tomato
                                                       3 springs of fresh thyme         1 scotch bonnet pepper
                                                                                                    1/2 small white onion
                                                                                                    A pinch of rock salt
Extras - wooden kebab skewers.

Start this recipe by cubing the goat meat into nice bite sized pieces and set aside. Combine the paprika, cayenne, black pepper and sesame oil together in a bowl. Chop up thyme and add to the mixture and then add the goat meat and coat evenly. Using sesame oil lends a rich, nutty undertone to the meat which works deliciously with the intensity of the paprika and pepper - YUM!. Leave to marinade for 1/2 hour. In the meantime, peel the sweet potato and cut into thin slivers and place in a large bowl of water, pop your skewers in the bowl of water as well and leave until time to cook. Placing the potato in water before cooking removes the starch so will result in a nice, crisp fry and immersing the skewers in water prevents them from charring under the grill. While the meat is marinading, you can prepare your shito salsa. Chop up your tomato and onion into large pieces and add to a blender along with the scotch bonnet pepper and blend into a chunky pulp, remove and place in a bowl and sprinkle with salt and then refridgerate.

Your kebabs should now be ready for the grill. Grab your red onion and green pepper and cut into small pieces. You may need to snap your skewers in half if they're too long! Alternate the veg with the meat along the skewers. Once done place on a sheet of foil and place under the grill for 5 minutes on each side, a minute less if you like them particularly rare. Now you're ready to fry the potatoes! Half fill a pan with oil and heat until very hot; drop in small batches of potato and fry until golden brown, remove and place in a bowl lined with kitchen paper to absorb excess oil and place in the oven. Repeat method until finished. Cover potatoes with cumin and mix together, add salt if desired and then devour like no one's looking! So, what do you think?

.