Caribbean Curried Chicken

Curried Chicken is by far one of the most accessible and easily found Caribbean foods. Like all curries, it's highly regionalized, there can be multiple curries found along the entire archipelago.  Essentially it is a spiced stew consisting of meat or poultry, a starch such as pumpkin or potato, coconut milk, spicy peppers, and a curry spice blend, which will usually contain allspice.

Ingredients 

2 pounds bone-in chicken breasts

1 onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

¼ cup fresh lime juice

2 teaspoons poultry seasoning

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

2 medium potatoes, pealed and cubed*

3 tablespoons curry powder**

½  teaspoon nutmeg

½  teaspoon allspice

1 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup water

½ cup coconut milk

1 Scotch Bonnet or habanero chili pepper, slit in half lengthwise

Notes:

*Do not use russet potatoes, use white, or Yukon Gold

**Do not use Madras Curry powder, and if Jamaican Curry powder is used, omit allspice and nutmeg

 

Step One: Chicken Prep

Cut chicken into two inch pieces. The skin and rib bones can be removed, but this is optional. Combine the chicken, onion, garlic, lime juice, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper in a bowl.  Mix the ingredients together.  Transfer the chicken to a tight-lidded container and refrigerate for two hours.

Step Two: Potatoes

Peal and cut the potatoes into ½ inch cubes. Steam the potatoes for ten minutes until tender, but still firm.

Step Three: Curry Gravy

Mix the curry powder, nutmeg and allspice together in a small bowl and set aside.  Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a 6 quart pot over medium-high heat until oil is shimmering.  Stirring very

quickly, add the curry powder mixture to the oil. Continue to stir rapidly for about 1 minute. Immediately add the chicken mixture, potatoes, water, coconut milk, and the chili pepper.

 

Step Four: Simmer and Serve

Stir the mixture and bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and let the mixture simmer for 45 minutes to an hour until the chicken is fully cooked and the gravy is the desired thickness. Serve over white rice and enjoy. 

Slow Cooker Jerk Chicken

Jerk Chicken is a colloquial Caribbean favorite. Jerk Chicken is essentially a grilled, braised or stewed spiced chicken.   There are multiple variations of the spice mixture, but mace, nutmeg, cinnamon, thyme, salt, chilies, and allspice are common.  Jerk Chicken like chili, gumbo and potato salad has many authoritative recipes asserting to be authentic. What was found to be common among the variations was a savory, deep flavored aromatic chicken dish.   What's been presented here is a basic recipe that can be successfully employed by home cooks.

  Step 1: The Chicken

Purchase a 3 to 4 pound cut up chicken. Cut the breasts in half to allow for even cooking. Remove the skin from all pieces. Place the chicken on a cutting board, or in a big container.  

Step 2: The Jerk

This is where the variation and, often the fear comes in.  The choices of spices can be overwhelming. McCormick makes a pre-maid Jerk Seasoning which is very good.  For the more adventurous a basic Jerk seasoning ensemble for four pounds of chicken would be  1/2 teaspoons of salt, 1 tablespoon of allspice, 2 teaspoons of sugar, a teaspoon of thyme or poultry seasoning,  a teaspoon of black pepper,  a teaspoon of cinnamon, a teaspoon of nutmeg,  a half teaspoon  of marjoram, and the amount of red pepper flakes deemed necessary.  Using your hands rub the chicken with the spice mixture.   Refrigerate it for 2 hours at a minimum and overnight at a maximum.  The more chicken you use the longer you should give the rub to work its magic.

Step 3: Slow Cooking

Assemble the chicken in a single layer in a slow cooker.  Cook on low for six to eight hours.  If you don't have a slow cooker, cook in the oven in a sealed dutch oven for the same amount of time for at 200 degrees F.  After 6-8 hours remove the chicken from the slow cooker or dutch oven and let it rest by placing the pieces on a sheet pan with a wire rack. If there isn't a wire rack available then simply place them on a sheet pan, or cookie sheet. The chicken will be moist, perhaps even soggy.

Step 4: Finishing

Place the cookie sheet in a 300 degree F oven for 30 - 45 minutes or until the chicken dries a little but not too much, you want it to be moist not dry. Remove it when the chicken is glossy, but still moist.  There will be a wonderful aroma. What's happening is the sugars on the outside are caramelizing to get that signature sticky gooey sweet savory goodness of Jerk Chicken. Plate it up and enjoy.