Potato Leave (Grain) Stew with Fried Chicken

Ah, it's Labor Day and we all had off for today. I actually am happy to have off for today. I started my new role as an Informatics Specialist at Mosaic Community Services about a week ago and there is so much with information overload, but I am happy to be doing something I really enjoy to help others, and I have employment after 8+ months unemployed. The kids are doing well and Rex and I let them sleep in. They are learning a lot from A Kid's Agenda, our daycare provider. Our daycare provider is so amazing and nourishing and heartwarming. We have been taking the kids there for over a year now and May is writing her letters and Nia is learning more complex shapes. Rex will be starting school on the 6th, he has two more years and then he'll be graduating with his certification as an electrician. He is doing well with side projects as well and Rex even fixed the light and ceiling in my parent's kitchen. He and my father went to Home Depot a few weeks ago and it didn't take them more than 30 minutes to complete the project. The ceiling was falling apart and had been that way for some time now.

Just yesterday we actually went to NJ for a BBQ with my maternal side of the family. The BBQ was held at my uncle Ernie's house and it was so nice to see the family and have a good time. The trip was about an hour and 40 minutes from the home in Maryland and the drive to and from NJ was not too bad at all.

Seeing family is wonderful and one day I really hope we can see in person Rex's mother and brothers and sisters back in Liberia. It is so great with technology that now we can see them with cameras on phones. We talk through Facebook Messenger and we smile so widely. Rex hasn't been to Liberia since he first came to the United States in 2006. I love learning about the culture from Rex and he also makes cultural dishes. I'm starting to cook more of the dishes as well as cook more homemade meals. We love salmon.

Today, since we were all together at the home and because it's somewhat of a holiday, we decided to make a popular Liberian and West African dish, Potato Leave (Grain) Stew with Fried Chicken. The dish is primarily potato leaves and can be made with meats like chicken, turkey and also fish. We made the stew with fried chicken and I documented the whole process. I'm going to include more cultural dishes to the blog as well as other cultural topics. The result of the stew is so delicious. It is also very warming and filling. Here's the recipe with pictures:

Ingredients
4 packs of potato leaves (grain)
3 onions, chopped
1 to 4 Maggi Seasonings packets 
2 packs of chicken, legs, and breasts 
2.5 Cups of vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of salt
1/2 tablespoon of pepper
1/2 ground pepper flakes
1 tablespoon of Ms. Dash
1 8oz can of tomato paste
1/2 of water
2 cups jasmine rice

*Note: 
The potato leaves (grain) can be found at an International Store. 
2 green or red hot peppers, chopped, can be used for making the dish spicier. Add the peppers with the onions and before the water and tomato paste.

Yield: 6
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 40 minutes

Before cooking, wash all potato leaves, chicken, onions, and rice.

Season chicken evenly with 1/2 of salt, pepper and Ms. Dash and in a big pot add 1 1/2 cups of oil. Place on medium-high heat to fry the chicken.

While the pot is warming, line up the potato leaves and cut off stems, leaving the leaves.

Cut the leaves into finely chopped portions, repeat for all the potato grains from the packs.

Save the chopped potato leaves in a separate bowl.

You might need a second hand for this, place the raw chicken in the pot with the oil and start frying. Turn the chicken occasionally to prevent burning.

The chicken should be crispy. Save the fried chicken in a separate bowl.

When the potato leaves have been chopped and the chicken has been fried. Add a 1/2 of the salt along with the onions and 1 to 4 Maggi seasonings (depending on how much seasoning you wish) to the chopped leaves.

Maggi seasoning.

Add 1 cup of the oil to the chopped potato leaves and add the grains to the oil.

Add the ground pepper flakes to the stew and stir and cover the pot.

Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the tomato paste, and water to the pot and the fried chicken. Stir occasionally, and cover the pot. Cook the potato leave stew for 35 minutes.

When the stew is finished, the green will be soft and the chicken pieces will fall off.

While the stew is cooking, boil jasmine rice in water and serve stew on a bed of jasmine rice. Enjoy!