Mauritian Chicken Daube Recipe: Chicken and Potato Stew
Mauritian chicken daube recipe: a one-pot stew of chicken, potatoes, tomatoes and whole spices, and how three published versions differ.
Mauritian chicken daube is a chicken and potato stew simmered in a tomato and spice sauce, somewhere between a French daube and a curry. It all happens in one pot, with 30 to 40 minutes of simmering. Below is a recipe with quantities for 6 to 8 people, how three published versions differ, and how to tell daube from curry and rougaille.
What is chicken daube in Mauritius?
Daube started out as a slow-cooked French stew, most often made with beef. Its best-known form is the Provençal beef daube, braised in wine with vegetables, garlic and herbs. The word comes from the Occitan dobba, which meant a marinade, according to the dictionary of the Académie française.
In Mauritius the dish has moved a long way from that model. Chicken replaces beef, spices (cinnamon, cloves, cumin, sometimes curry powder) take the place of wine and herbs, and none of the Mauritian recipes compared here uses wine: the sauce is built on tomatoes. One recipe site describes it as a one-pot dish that sits between a stew and a curry, inspired by the French daube and adapted locally to chicken and spices. When the dish reached the island is not documented, so it is safest to stick to that general lineage.
Chicken daube recipe
This version follows the recipe of the Mauritian food blogger Brinda Bungaroo, the most complete of the three compared below. It uses 1 kg of chicken and serves 6 to 8.
Ingredients
- 1 kg chicken pieces
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 medium onions, sliced
- a piece of fresh ginger, grated
- 3 medium potatoes, cubed
- 2 carrots, cut into large cubes
- a handful of frozen peas
- 1 cinnamon stick, 2 whole cardamom pods, 3 cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 sprig of thyme and a few curry leaves
- 1 tablespoon tomato purée and 2 large tomatoes, chopped
- fresh coriander, chopped, leaves and stalks
- 1 to 2 cups of water or chicken stock
- salt and pepper, plus 2 green chillies if you like heat
Method
- Heat the oil in a large pot over a medium heat. Soften the onions for a few minutes, then add the garlic and ginger.
- Add the curry leaves, thyme, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and cumin, and let the spices infuse gently.
- Add the chicken, season with salt and brown it lightly.
- Once the chicken starts to colour, add the tomatoes, the purée, the water or stock and the coriander stalks. Stir and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Add the potatoes, cover and simmer on a low heat for 20 to 25 minutes.
- When the sauce thickens, taste and adjust the seasoning. If it gets too dry, add a little water. The daube is ready when the chicken and potatoes are tender to the point of a knife.
- Turn the heat down, add the peas and simmer for 5 more minutes. Serve with the coriander and sliced chillies.
The author suggests making it the day before, so the spices have time to soak into the meat and the sauce. She also says the same recipe works with beef or lamb.
How the recipes differ
There is no single reference recipe. Three published Mauritian versions agree on the principle (chicken browned with aromatics, then simmered with potatoes and tomatoes) but differ on spices and vegetables.
| Recipe | Chicken | Spices | Vegetables | Cooking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Searching for Spice | 400 g, serves 4 | cumin seeds, curry powder, ginger, garlic, green chilli | 1 potato, green pepper, tinned chopped tomatoes | about 40 min simmering |
| Cuizine Maurice | 500 g | cinnamon, cloves, ground cumin, 2 dried chillies | 3 potatoes, 3 tomatoes, 100 g peas | 35 to 40 min in total |
| Brinda Bungaroo | 1 kg, serves 6 to 8 | cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, cumin, thyme, curry leaves | potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, purée, peas | 30 to 40 min simmering |
Two approaches stand out. One lifts the sauce with curry powder. The other leaves it out and relies on cinnamon, cloves and cumin. Cuizine Maurice finishes with parsley instead of coriander, but all three end with fresh herbs.
Daube, curry or rougaille?
Daube shares its spices with a chicken curry, but it has a tomato sauce and potatoes that thicken the juices, which makes it a meal in one pot. Rougaille is another tomato-based dish, made here with sausages.
What to serve it with
The recipes serve it with white rice. Cuizine Maurice adds a lettuce salad, while Brinda Bungaroo suggests plain basmati rice or rustic bread with a salad. For other dishes to put on the table, our page on Mauritian cuisine gives an overview.
Sources and checks
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