When searching for a dish from Cameroon, I kept coming across Poulet DG. I thought the title was cute because in French, a PDG is a CEO. Turns out that this is a very popular and special dish that was reserved for the wealthy or for when special guests. I watched about 10 different videos of woment from Cameroon making this recipe. Some use pureed tomatoes and some used fresh tomatoes chopped. Were I to do it again, I would probably try it with 5-8 fresh chopped tomatoes, but I didn’t have any at home, so i went with the pureed/crushed tomatoes. We all really liked the flavor of this dish, but it was a bit more work than I generally like to put into making a dish as you had to use at least a pan, a pot and also do some pureeing in addition to chopping vegetables. For me, this means more dishes. The initial recipe I found called for 2 cups of oil to deep fry the plantines, but I found that if you use a good non-stick pan and just cover the bottom of the pan with 2T of oil that works just as well and significantly cuts down on the oil. I had a lot of trouble with my plantines. As we are in the midst of COVID I have been doing curbside and not picking out my fruits and veggies on my own. My plantines, never really ripened. When I cut them open, they were hard and had rock hard black sections on the inside, so I only used the 1 good one, that looked like it should when I opened it and used a banana I had at home. Plantines are not the same as bananas. They are firmer and will not dissintegrate in a sauce. The original French recipe also had you pour all of the stock into a pot, then pour it back in. Not necessary. Just leave the stock alone, skim any melted chicken fat and call it a day.
| Difficulty: Medium Servings: 4 Total Time: 1hr20 Prep Time: 20 Cook Time: 1 hour Rating: 8.5/10 |
Ingredients
- 4 large ripe plantains they should neither be too soft nor too hard
- 1 chicken cut up or chicken thighs (about 5 pounds or 2.5 kg)
- 1 onion – chopped
- 1 celery stalk – chopped
- 8 stems of parsley – or cilantro
- 1 inch ginger root (peeled and chopped)
- 8 garlic cloves – peeled
- 1 habanero (hot) pepper (optional) (I used 1/8th of the habanero)
- 4 small boullion cubes
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (or 8 chopped tomatoes)
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 stems of scallions (green onions)
- 2 medium carrot – or 1 large
- 1 large handful of green beans
- 1 bell pepper – or ¼ each of 4 coloured bell peppers
Step by Step Directions
  1.  | Prepare the vegetables: Peel and slice plantines. Chop parsley, onion, celery & peeled ginger. Peel garlic. Peel and slice carrots. Slice peppers. Cut string beans in quarters. Chop scallions. |
 2.  | Blend celery, garlic, ginger, 1/2 onion 1/2 cup water & habanero pepper (if using it). |
3.  | Put chicken in a pot. Add ¾ of the spice blend, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 boullion cubes, black pepper & 1 C water. Mix well. |
4.  | Cover and let it cook on medium-high heat for 20 minutes. |
 5.  | While chicken is cooking, cover bottom of a pan with oil. You can also deep fry them if you prefer. Cook plantines in single layer batches. Drain on paper towels and put aside. |
6.  | Brown remaining 1/2 onion in the pan you cooked the plantines in. |
 7.  | Remove chicken from pot. Broil until skin is crispy and brown. (about 10-15 minutes) |
8. | While chicken is broiling, add onions, remainder of the spice mix, 2 remaining bullion cubes, pepper & the crushed tomatoes to the pot the chicken was in. |
9. | Mix and simmer while chicken is broiling. |
10. | Add chicken and plantines to the pot. Mix. Simmer 5 minutes. |
11. | Add carrots, peppers, scallions & string beans. Mix. Cover. Simmer, mixing periodically, until vegetables are tender but with a little crunch. |
12. | Serve. |
Recipe Sources: Poulet DG video, Poulet DG