Dive into the rich, smoky flavours of Poland’s favourite hunter’s stew. Grab your sauerkraut, sausage, and spices – and bring Bigos to your table tonight!

Ingredients

1 ½ teaspoons caraway seeds,

3 juniper berries, slightly crushed

1 large onion finely chopped

4 chicken thighs

500g sauerkraut drained, chopped

300g white cabbage chopped

8-10 prunes pitted, halved

1½ tablespoons tomato puree

7g dried porcini mushrooms small handful

1 ½  teaspoons dried marjoram and paprika each

400g Polish smoked sausage kielbasa, diced or Chorizo if hard to find

5 tablespoons olive oil

Prepare          

In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons of the oil, add the caraway seeds, juniper berries and onion and gently stir often for 3 minutes. Add the chicken thighs. Cook for 2 minutes on each side.

Add the sauerkraut, cabbage, prunes, tomato puree, mushrooms, marjoram, paprika, pepper and 250ml of water and stir to combine. Cover, bring to the boil then simmer for 1 hour stirring occasionally. Top up with more water as needed (make sure the mix doesn’t stick to the pan).

In a frying pan heat the remaining oil (1-2 tablespoons) and fry the chopped sausage until crispy, stirring often. Add fried sausage into the stew and continue cooking gently for 1-1½ hours. Add a little more water if needed.

Shred chicken into pieces and return to pot.

Serve with boiled/mashed potatoes or crusty bread.