Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Djenkoumé
A savory red maize-meal paste cooked with tomato and palm oil, served with grilled chicken, a Togolese celebration favorite.
Togolese · medium · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 40 min
~727 cal · 53g protein · 68g carbs · 27g fat · 8g fiber · 6g sugars · 5g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Djenkoumé (also spelled djinkoumé) is one of Togo's signature dishes, a savory cornmeal paste stained a deep red-orange by tomato and . Unlike the plain white maize pastes eaten across the region, djenkoumé is cooked with a full sauce worked into it, so the paste itself is seasoned through and through.
It is most often served with grilled or chicken, the smoky meat set against the smooth, tangy, richly colored paste. A dish for Sundays, guests, and celebrations, djenkoumé shows the Togolese talent for turning a humble staple grain into something festive, and it holds a proud place on tables in Lomé and across the south of the country.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1.5 lb chicken pieces
2 cups cornmeal (maize meal)
4 tomatoes, blended
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup red
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
to taste salt and black pepper
3 cloves and 1 tbsp garlic and ginger, minced
Instructions
1
Season the chicken with the garlic, ginger, and salt and grill or pan-sear it until cooked and lightly charred; set aside.
2
Warm the palm oil and soften the onion, garlic and ginger, then add the blended tomato and the paste and cook down 15 minutes to a thick, deep-red sauce. Lift out a cupful and set it aside as the dipping sauce.
3
Pour the broth into the remaining sauce, bring it to a boil, then whisk in the cornmeal a little at a time, stirring hard, until it forms a smooth, thick, seasoned paste. Season with salt and pepper.
✎ Chef’s note
Add the cornmeal gradually and stir constantly; this is where lumps form if you rush. Togolese cooks traditionally roast the maize before grinding it, and toasting the cornmeal dry in the pan first gets you close to that flavour.
4
Cook the paste a few more minutes until glossy, then shape into mounds.
5
Serve the red mounds with the grilled chicken and the reserved tomato sauce for dipping.
Togolese home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Lomé. Gboma is not spinach. It is the leaf of Solanum macrocarpon, the African eggplant, and spinach is only the substitute cooks reach for elsewhere. The same dish is called shoko in Ghana and Benin, and akoume, the fermented maize dough it comes with, is also known as to.
🗺️
Togo. Togolese food is West African at heart, pâte (corn or cassava dough) with okra or spinach sauces, grilled fish, and fufu. Palm oil, chili, and groundnut define a small nation's flavorful table.
🌍
Africa. The structure repeats across most of the continent: one starch and one sauce. A grain or root is cooked stiff, torn or rolled by hand, and used to carry a stew of leaves, groundnut, okra or fish, usually from a shared bowl and with the right hand. UNESCO listings have followed that logic, inscribing couscous in 2020 as a shared Maghreb tradition and Ivorian attieke in 2024.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Togo
Gboma DessiA rich Togolese spinach stew simmered with tomato, red palm oil, and beef or fish.
AyimolouA one-pot of rice and beans cooked together and served with a spicy pepper sauce, Togo's breakfast.
Galidossi (Gari and Milk Dessert)Crunchy cassava gari soaked in cold sweet milk with roasted peanuts, a refreshing Togolese street dessert.
Browse all Togo recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Grill or barbecue, Whisk.
Storing it: Best straight off the heat. Leftovers keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated and reheat well in a hot oven rather than the microwave.
Make it a Togo meal
Galidossi (Gari and Milk Dessert)Dessert
Gboma DessiDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Djenkoumé?
A savory red maize-meal paste cooked with tomato and palm oil, served with grilled chicken, a Togolese celebration favorite.
Where does Djenkoumé come from?
Djenkoumé is a Togolese dish from Lomé, Togo.
Can Djenkoumé be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Djenkoumé recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Djenkoumé safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Djenkoumé take to make?
About 60 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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