Name: Micha Heilman
Class Year: 2019
Country of Residence: Netherlands

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

Roti dishes are known for their deep flavors. The thing I love about this recipe is how the chicken and kousenband taste is so distinct, although they are cooked
with the same base of onion, garlic, and tomato. I am a huge fan of spicy food,
so the heat that comes from the hot pepper with the chicken is very gratifying.
This dish is eaten with your hands, tearing the roti pancake into small pieces and
picking up the chicken and vegetables. The garlic and masala encrusted egg is
wonderful for presentation and is a nice subtle taste paired with the chicken and
vegetables.

This recipe was first served to me when I moved to The Hague and joined an all
female house of 5. The meal was absolutely delicious and flavorful, and made me
feel so welcomed into my new home. I didn’t learn until I made it how long it
took to prepare and how much patience was involved, so I felt even more
grateful to my flatmates for cooking it for me.

Chicken and vegetables Roti

Serves 4. Takes approx. 2.5 hours.

Ingredients:

4 Roti Pancakes
800 g chicken thighs
1 bunch kousenband (long green beans, also known as snake beans)
1 kg potatoes
4 eggs
5 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced
2 white onions, chopped
Curry Masala
2 large tomatoes, diced
½ bunch celery, chopped
4 Maggi or Bouillon cubes
1 yellow hot pepper, minced
Salt and Pepper
Olive or Sunflower Oil
Optional extra vegetables: pumpkin, eggplant, cabbage.

Instructions:

Chicken Instructions
1) Wash chicken with a little vinegar. Cut into 1-inch pieces. Massage a nice
amount of salt and pepper into chicken and let sit for 10 minutes.
2) In a large frying pan over high heat, fry 1 onion, 2 cloves garlic, and 1 tomato.
When onions brown, add 2 crumbled cubes of maggi into the pan, along with 1 ½
Tbsp curry masala.
3) Reduce heat to low and add chicken and hot pepper. Mix well then add the
celery. Place the lid on the pan and simmer for about 1 ½ hours. Add 50 mL of
water to the pan every half hour and taste. Add more spices if flavor is not salty
enough, or add more water if taste becomes too concentrated.

Vegetable Instructions
4) Cut the kousenband into small 2-inch pieces. If adding extra vegetables, cut
them now.
5) Put vegetables in ice cold water for about 10 minutes, then boiling water for
10 minutes. Set aside.
Potato Instructions
6) Peel potatoes and put them in boiling water for about 7 minutes. Do not
completely cook them.
7) In a large frying pan over high heat, fry remaining onion,
garlic, and tomato. Once the onion softens, add 2 crumbled cubes
of maggi into the pan, along with 1 Tbsp curry masala. Cook the
potatoes in this mixture over high heat for about 5 minutes.
8) Reduce heat and add the other vegetables, along with 100 mL
of water, and simmer for about 30 min, checking to taste every 10 minutes.

Egg Instructions
9) Hard boil eggs and remove from their shells. Dry well
10) In a pan heat oil and a little butter over medium high heat. Fry a mixture of
garlic and 1 tsp curry masala briefly, the garlic should not brown or burn.
Remove from the pan and set aside on a flat plate.
11) In another pan, heat sunflower oil on high heat and add the hard boiled eggs,
frying the outside. Make sure the oil is hot enough to create a crust right away.
12) Remove eggs from the pan and roll them in the crushed garlic and masala
mixture. Once the mixture has soaked into the egg, they are ready to serve.

Serve immediately with the roti pancakes.

Source:

This recipe originated from a friend of my current flatmate.