Monika Njava shares her recipe for Akoho Masoandro (Sun Chicken) to enjoy with her Toko Telo performance for Ragas Live, a dish as vibrant as their music.
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Monika Njava and Toko Telo
Known as the voice of Madagascar, Monika Njava has a number of albums under her belt, both solo and various collaborations. A percussionist and vocalist, she continues to break musical ground as she combines traditional Malagasy music with sounds and artists from around the globe.
She will be performing at the 2020 Ragas Live Festival at the 2:00 pm slot on 22-Nov, along with her band Toko Telo. Due to the global pandemic, the event is being live-streamed, the silver lining of which is that we listeners around the world can be treated to their live show, streaming from Mangily, Madagascar.
We reached out to Toko Telo to ask if there was any dish they recommended that we enjoy along with their performance, and they generously shared a recipe from Monika Njava’s cookbook: Akoho Masoandro (Sun Chicken).
I think it’s the first time we have made food from Madagascar and we are so excited. So register + donate via Pioneer Works, and then buy your groceries to cook along with us!
music
Toko Telo
We’ve been listening to Toko Telo via Spotify in preparation for their performance. Such cool instrumentation and energy.
recipe
Akoho Masoandro (Sun Chicken)
We didn’t have money to eat meat everyday. Sometimes we really wanted something tasty so we would steal a chicken. But it was difficult because my mother kept an eye out and would always set it free. One time we succeeded in stealing a chicken while my mother was taking a nap. It went straight into the pot before she could wake up. At first my mother refused to eat the chicken because she knew it had been stolen. But finally, she couldn’t resist.
Excerpted from Njava Cookbook
© Monika Njava + Used with permission
Akoho Masoandro (Sun Chicken)
Ingredients
- oil
- 2 large diced onions
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 1 whole chicken
- 1 lemon
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick broken into pieces
- 4 tbsp grated coconut
- salt
- pepper
- 1 can peeled tomatoes
- 1 cup cocktail onions in red vinegar 200 g
- 1/2 fresh pineapple cut into pieces or 1 can pineapple
- 1 can coconut milk 400 ml, 1 2/3 cups
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the onions and garlic, stirring several times, then put the whole chicken into the pot. Cook for 15 minutes while turning the chicken to prevent it from burning.
- Add the lemon juice, cloves, cinnamon, grated coconut, salt, and pepper. Stir well and let the chicken cook for 10 more minutes.
- Then add the tomatoes, marinated red onions, and pineapple. Let this cook over medium heat for 25 minutes.
- Add the coconut milk, stir well, and turn off the heat.
- Serve with white rice.
music
Toko Telo Albums
Each album cover links to a page showing options for purchasing Toko Telo and Monika Njava’s other work is available there as well!
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Thank You!
Thank you to Tako Telo for a wonderful performance! Your music is full of great energy and interesting sounds melded together. We think the Akoho Masoandro (Sun Chicken) that we ate along with it mimicked the sound in this way, with pineapple, and cinnamon, cloves, coconut, and pickled onions … all came together in one vibrant and varied taste.
And once again, thank you to Monika Njava for generously sharing your recipe to accompany the Tako Telo performance.
