Trinidadian Curry Chicken
Trini Curry Chicken! Perfect Sunday comfort food! Enjoy it with buss up shut or dhalpuri and sleep happier! This is just my version; this is the way I have decided to make it after looking at other recipes out there. Spicy, flavourful and a mix of so many aromatics and dry seasoning in this single dish. Absolutely tasty and will be sure to fill you up! It stores amazingly in the fridge and like most stews and sauces tastes even better the next day when the flavours have marinated together. In this recipe, culantro is substituted for cilantro but of course, if you have access to culantro then use that. If you like less heat, omit the scot bonnet or reduce the amount. This curry ends up being decently spicy but not unbearable for my palate.
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 4 pounds of chicken drumstick and thighs, skin removed
- 2/3 cup of green seasoning
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- 2 limes for cleaning chicken
Curry
- 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 4 tablespoons of curry
- 1 teaspoon duck and goat curry powder
- 2 teaspoon of ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper
- salt to taste
Aromatics and vegetables
- 1 medium sized onion thinly sliced
- 1 scotch bonnet sliced
- 3 pimento peppers diced
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 1 scotch bonnet whole
- 3-4 potatoes largely chopped (at least 1 inch)
Green seasoning (about a whole large mason jar of green seasoning)
- 1 1/2 bunch of cilantro or shado beni/culantro
- 1/2 bunch of parsley
- 4 scallions
- 10 garlic cloves peeled
- leaves from 10 thyme spring
- 3 stalks of celery
- 3 scotch bonnet
- 3 pimento peppers
- 1 small onion
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1/2 red bell pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Neutral oil as needed
To Serve
- Roti like dhalpuri or buss up shut
- White rice
Instructions
Make Green seasoning
- Chop all green seasoning ingredients so they are small enough to go into a food processor
- Place all your ingredients in a. food processor and blend until it is smooth, you can add a bit of oil to aid with the blending.
- Additional ingredients like 3 inches of ginger may be added to this green seasoning if desired but I like to keep it without ginger because I think it makes it slightly more versatile.
- Set aside until ready to use.
Marinate Chicken
- Clean and wash your chicken using lime and water and remove skin if not removed. Cut your chicken into pieces if they come in quarters like mine did. You can keep thighs intact or drum sticks intact but I like to cut my thighs in half so there are smaller chicken pieces among the larger drumsticks.
- Pour your green seasoning over your chicken and marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Cook Curry
- In a medium bottom pot on medium heat, add your oil and sliced onion and fry for about 3 minutes.
- Add your diced peppers, pimento and scotch bonnet, sauté for an additional 2 minutes. Your onion and peppers should start browning
- Add your minced garlic and sautee for about 1 minute.
- Add your dry seasoning, curry powder, duck and goat curry powder, turmeric, cumin and black pepper ad turn your heat down to low-medium.
- Fry until the curry deepens in colour slightly and smells aromatic but is not burning. The oil should start visibly separating.
- Add about 2 cups fo water, and let simmer, stirring periodically so it does not burn.
- After about 5-8 minutes, it should thicken and reduce.
- When your curry mixture has thickened, add your marinated chicken and all the green seasoning marinade in the bowl.
- Cover with your lid and let simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Add your large diced potatoes, stir to make sure it is not burning and let summer for an additional 10 minutes. Check at the 5 minute mark to make sure it is not burning.
- Pour over 2-3 more cups of water over your chicken, cover and let cook for an additional 15-20 minutes until your chicken is cooked and potatoes are tender and can be easily pierced with a fork.
- As potatoes cook, though you want to stir occasionally to prevent burning, Becareful not to break apart potatoes too much in your curry.
- Uncover and let simmer for an additional 10 minutes to thicken your curry. If there is too much water, you may have to simmer for longer to thicken curry, if there is too little water, add water as necessary to prevent burning and to make sure the end result has enough sauce to eat your roti or rice with.
- You can cook till desired consistency, I like mine slightly thicker but be mindful that it will thicken further when it is cooled.
- Serve with your favourite roti or rice and enjoy!
I made this for the first time yesterday, and it’s hands-down one of the best dishes I’ve ever had at home! It is just so flavorful! And the steps are simple enough to make it a regular meal. Thank you so much, Nadia! Looking forward to trying new recipes!