Xinxim de Galinha
Also: xinxim, chicken xinxim
A Bahian Afro-Brazilian chicken stew thickened and flavoured with ground dried shrimp, peanuts and cashews, enriched with golden dendê (palm) oil and coconut milk.
Identity criteria
- 1Built on chicken simmered into a thick stew
- 2Defined by ground dried shrimp combined with ground peanuts and cashews
- 3Coloured and flavoured with dendê (red palm) oil — non-negotiable to Bahian identity
- 4Enriched with coconut milk and aromatic with ginger, onion and garlic
- 5An Afro-Brazilian dish of Candomblé and Bahian cuisine, served with rice and farofa
Components
ChickenessentialThe 'galinha'; cut up and stewed.
Dried shrimpessentialGround into the sauce for depth and umami; defining.
Ginger, onion, garlicessentialThe aromatic base; ginger is characteristic.
Dendê (red palm) oilessentialGives the dish its golden colour and characteristic Bahian flavour.
Lime juiceoptionalOften used to season the chicken.
Coconut milkessentialEnriches and rounds the sauce.
Ground peanuts and cashewsessentialThicken and flavour the stew.
Coriander / parsleyoptionalFresh herbs to finish.
Technique
- Grinding shrimp and nuts
- Pounding dried shrimp with peanuts and cashews builds the stew's signature thick, savoury body.
- Cooking in dendê oil
- Red palm oil is the colour and flavour signature of Bahian cuisine and is essential to xinxim.
- Slow stewing with coconut milk
- Simmering the chicken in the nut-shrimp-coconut base melds it into a rich, unified sauce.
Form & serving
- Served
- Plated as a saucy stew over white rice
- Temperature
- hot
- Portion
- individual main
- Pairs with
- white rice · farofa · pirão
Character
Flavour
Texture
thick, creamy, nutty sauce over tender chicken
Eaten
A celebratory and ritual dish of Bahia, served at Candomblé ceremonies and on festive Afro-Brazilian tables, eaten with rice and farofa.
When
year-round
Variations & related
Regional variations
- Xinxim de galinha · Salvador, Bahia
The classic chicken version, central to Bahian and Candomblé tables.
- Xinxim de camarão · Bahia
A version foregrounding shrimp as the main protein.
Related dishes
- sibling Moqueca
Another Bahian dendê-and-coconut stew, fish/seafood based.
- ancestor West African peanut stews
The groundnut-thickened stew tradition that crossed the Atlantic.
Substitutions
Dendê oil → Regular vegetable oilinadmissible
Removing palm oil strips the dish of its defining Bahian colour and flavour — it is no longer xinxim.
Cashews → More peanuts or other nutsadmissible
The exact nut blend can vary while keeping the dish recognizable.
Common mistakes
- Omitting dendê oil or substituting plain oil, losing the Bahian identity
- Skipping dried shrimp, which removes a core umami pillar
- Letting the nut-thickened sauce scorch on the bottom
- Treating it as a generic coconut curry rather than a specific Afro-Brazilian dish
Provenance
An Afro-Brazilian dish of Bahia born from the West African culinary heritage of enslaved Africans, closely tied to Candomblé ritual offerings; settled as a Bahian classic.
References
- 1.Bahian Afro-Brazilian cuisine
- 2.Candomblé foodways
Confidence: high