Aunty Tilly's Chicken Dish

One of the wonderful things about your Mom’s cookery books, are the recipes which are passed down and along by friends and relatives.  I can see everyone sitting around the lunch table on a Sunday discussing the church service the morning, current affairs, distant family etc. and Mom – after taking a mouthful of food – saying to the hostess. “Aunty Tilly.  This is soooo good.  May I have the recipe?” and it’s written down for prosperity in her cookbook as “Aunty Tilly’s chicken”.  Who knows, it may have been written down in Aunty Tilly's cookbook as “Moeder Marta’s chicken dish”.  And so each generation makes the dish and the memory of that loved one is cherished and passed on with each bite.

Mandi:  This recipe was written down by my mom after a visit to her Aunt Tilly (My grandfather’s, brother’s wife).  I must say, I think this is the first recipe that we have done on the blog, or let’s say the original recipe that looks like the traditional “Boerekos” that we were raised with and I tell you what, it is finger licking good!!  It has got to be the easiest recipe we have done by far and with the traditional sweet and spicy butternut and peas to go with cooked white basmati rice and this chicken, it is definitely a winner, hands down.  James and I took the dishes over to friends and we fed 8 grown ups with left overs, only because they couldn’t fit anymore into their fully tummies.  I was sceptical at the timing of the chicken in my oven.  We moved this week onto a farm with a quaint little farmhouse and a gas stove which is probably close to half the size of my previous gas stove.  All in all, it went for another hour and it was delicious.  So adjust the timing according to what you know your oven is capable of.

Recipe:

2 Kg Chicken pieces

1 Cup Mayonnaise

1 Cup Chutney

1 packet white onion soup

Method:

Place your chicken pieces, bones down into a deep casserole dish.  Pour the soup powder over the chicken pieces.  Mix the Mayonnaise and Chutney together and pour over the chicken mixture.  Do not add water and do NOT add Salt!!  Place in the oven at 160◦C for two hours and keep it covered. 

Notes:

1.      Try to get chicken that is not injected full of water to get the weight to 2Kg.  I usually shop at a local free range chicken depot that guarantees there is no added water.  Also remember that if your chicken is frozen it also weighs more with the ice so if you don’t have other options, I would suggest buying extra pieces depending on how many mouths you want to feed.

2.      You will see that when your chicken dish is ready, the mixture of the ingredients (soup, chutney, mayo) makes a nice juicy thick gravy.

3.      Thank you Aunty Tilly for a fabulous recipe. Rest in peace knowing we enjoyed every bite!! 

Deidre:  Putting a spin on this dish was extremely difficult for me (as always), but especially because the original of this dish is my family’s favourite.  There is no match for the thick sticky sauce which coats each chicken piece and the gravy which soaks the rice with a richness and flavour that knows no equal.  But, my challenge is to put a spin on and modernise Mom’s recipes…..

Aunty Tilly’s Chicken Dish

1kg chicken (cooked and deboned)  (I used smaller quantities because I had fewer people to feed)

½  cup mayonnaise

½  cup chutney

½  pkt brown onion soup (I love the dark brown gravy)

Carrots

Potatoes

Onions

To get the flavour of baked chicken (which is like the original dish), I roasted the chicken prior to deboning it instead of boiling it on top of the stove.

Debone and tear the chicken into large pieces.  This dish has a very rustic appearance.

Cook carrots, potatoes and chopped onions together until soft.  Drain and blend. 

Place the mayonnaise, chutney and ½ pkt soup powder in a pot on the stove.  Add 1 cup of water and simmer until it thickens.  Whisk continuously (Be careful as this mixture burns easily.)

Place a mould on your plate and add spoonfuls of the carrot mixture in the mould.  Remove the mould and place the pieces of chicken on top of the carrot.  Lastly pour the mayonnaise mixture over the top of the chicken.

I served the dish with a side salad.

Hints and Tips:

1.      Adapt your recipe according the number of people you need to feed;

2.      Experiment with your soup powders – maybe mushroom would work just as well;

3.      If your gravy is too thick, keep adding small amounts of water until your mixture is pourable;

4.      The flavour of the chicken is definitely better roasted for this dish than boiled.  Add your normal spices as for when you make roast chicken;

5.      Cut up your carrots and potatoes into equal squares which will allow them to cook evenly.

6.      Use fresh carrots – the natural sweetness adds a subtle flavour to this dish.

As mentioned earlier in this section, nothing beats the tangy, sticky gravy that sticks to the chicken pieces in the original dish – but this one wasn’t too bad either J.