Kota kapama — chicken braised with cinnamon and tomato

In Greece, this traditional dish is called Kota Kapama, which roughly means chicken, sautéed. More authentically, it might be made with a wild hen you’ve caught in the Ionian islands, but short of that it’s permissible to buy a regular old chicken from your local shop; or portions thereof in these lazy times we live in.

But rather take the challenge of breaking down a whole bird; it’s a skill most cooks used to have, and one worth having. The carcass can be used to make your own chicken stock.

Tomato and cinnamon are the core elements apart from the chicken, and some recipes include cloves. Talking of which, there’s also garlic, of course, and some recipes include a splash or more of Cognac.

It is served with grated cheese (traditionally the Greek kefalotiri), and is served with pasta, sometimes rice.

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, dissected into 8 pieces (2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wings, and 2 breasts)

2 medium onions, chopped

3 or 4 garlic cloves, chopped finely

1 cup chicken stock

2 small cinnamon sticks

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 bay leaves

100 ml tomato paste

1 x 400 g can chopped tomatoes

1 tsp sugar (or honey)

Salt to taste

Ground black pepper to taste

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp butter or ghee (clarified butter)

½ cup finely grated Grana Padano

Parsley, chopped, to garnish

Cooked and drained orzo or other noodles, buttered (I used linguine)

Method

Clean and dry the chicken and dissect into 8 pieces.

Season each piece with salt and pepper and sprinkle ground cinnamon all over.

Heat the ghee/butter and olive oil in a skillet or cast-iron frying pan and brown the pieces well on all sides. Remove to a container and keep aside.

Add the onions and then the garlic to the pan and sauté, stirring, until softened. Stir in the tomato paste and sauté, stirring, for 2 minutes to take the sharpness off the paste.

Add the tomatoes, sugar or honey (to balance the acidity of the tomatoes), cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, chicken stock, taste and adjust seasoning, give it a stir, and then coat the chicken pieces in the sauce. Bring it to a gentle simmer, cover, and let it cook gently for about an hour or until the chicken is perfectly tender.

Serve on buttered noodles such as orzo, or Italian noodles such as tagliatelle or fettuccine or whichever type of pasta you have to hand. Once cooked and drained, quickly toss the pasta in melted butter before serving.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and finely grated cheese. DM

Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the year award, in 2021 and 2023

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