Oven Smoked and Dried Chicken is a traditional Nigerian recipe for a classic method of smoking and then drying a chicken using an oven. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Nigerian version of: Oven Smoked and Dried Chicken.
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Smoked meat is a common ingredient in many West African dishes. Presented here is the Nigerian method for preparing smoked and dried chicken in the oven. For this you will need what's known in West Africa as poulet bicyclette or village chicken. These are the slow growing local chickens with tough but flavourful meat suited to slow chicken. If you can't get hold of these then a Cornish Hen makes an acceptable substitute. It's also a great way of using-up an old layer.
Ingredients:
2 small village-type chickens
1 Maggi cube (chicken flavour)
250ml (1 cup) red Palm oil
2 tsp smoked paprika
For the smoke:
80g raw Rice
70g Sugar
2 tbsp black tea
Method:
Spatchcock the chickens by cutting along the breastbone and then flattening.
Pour the red oil into a bowl, crumble in the Maggi cube and stir to combine along with the smoked paprika. Rub the resultant mixture all over the chicken, both inside and out.
For the smoking mixture, line a baking tray with greaseproof (waxed) paper and spread over the rice, scatter over the black tea and finally sprinkle over the sugar.
Sit this on the lowest rack of of an oven pre-heated to 200C (400F). Arrange the chickens, breast down, on a greased wire rack and set in the centre of your oven.
Check on the chickens after 40 minutes and flip them over so the breast side is down. If you want to eat the chicken you can remove from the oven now and eat it. However, if you want to properly dry the kitchen continue cooking for a further 45 minutes and check again. If you used a village-style chicken it will be ready now. If your chicken is a little fattier you may need to cook for a further 20 minutes or so.
When done, remove from the oven and allow to cool. If using within a few days store in your refrigerator, otherwise store in your freezer until needed.
You can use this method to hot smoke just about any meat or fish, not just chicken.
