Jamaican Curry Chicken Recipe

Whereas curried goat is commonly the extra celebrated Jamaican dish, curried rooster is a less complicated but equally scrumptious staple. Curries seem within the Jamaican eating regimen courtesy of East Indian indentured laborers who had been introduced from India by the British to work on plantations after the top of slavery. Curried rooster embodies the historical past of our island and the numerous settlers who made their method to our shores from international lands, all of whom contributed to the delicacies that we name Jamaican at present.

Curried rooster makes a daily look on cookshop menus, the place it’s served with rice and peas or white rice and uncooked greens in a “field lunch.” It’s also served at house for both lunch or dinner and will be paired with extra elaborate accompaniments like steamed jasmine rice, roti, fried plantain, and mango chutney. Curried rooster would even be generally served at a household Sunday lunch or dinner, with typical Jamaican aspect dishes like fried or roasted breadfruit, fried plantain, avocado, an enormous inexperienced salad, steamed callaloo, and sliced Scotch bonnet pepper. My sons and their pals particularly liked curried rooster after they had been rising up, so it was on the dinner menu each different week throughout their faculty years. My home was all the time stuffed with a crew of rambunctious, hungry teenage boys, and this dish was a straightforward, nourishing, and satisfying meal for all.

An important method in lots of Jamaican recipes, together with this one, is marination. We marinate most meat, poultry, and fish earlier than cooking, contributing to the constructing of taste within the dish. Right here, the rooster is first rubbed throughout with the lower aspect of a lime or lemon. This can be a observe that’s customary right here in Jamaica, much less to scale back micro organism and extra to take away what’s perceived by Jamaicans because the “uncooked” taste of the rooster—one of many culinary sins, together with underseasoning, that Jamaicans would blame on a mediocre prepare dinner.

After this acid rubdown, the rooster is seasoned with the curry powder, ginger, onion, garlic, thyme, Scotch bonnet pepper, and pimento (what we name allspice in Jamaica) and left to marinate for a minimum of an hour previous to cooking. (Previous-time Jamaican cooks will normally season and marinate from the day earlier than cooking or, on the very least, just a few hours earlier than cooking). Jamaican curry powders are sometimes a premade mix of spices like cumin, coriander, fenugreek, allspice, mustard, anise, and turmeric, therefore the signature yellow colour, which is kind of totally different from curry powders of different origins.

As soon as marinated, the rooster is browned in a deep pot after which faraway from the oil, after which extra oil, curry powder, and seasonings are sautéed, including one other layer of depth and spice whereas growing these flavors and drawing them out into the oil. The rooster is then returned to the pot with all of the seasonings, liquid is added, and the dish is left to simmer and scale back, general a reasonably easy course of.

Some cooks like so as to add carrots and potatoes, which this recipe affords as an possibility and makes for a a lot heartier meal. The potatoes and carrots could be added when the curry powder and seasonings are sautéed, previous to the addition of the liquid.

One other non-traditional variation, which we personally love and name for on this recipe, is the addition of coconut milk. The coconut milk makes for a thick, creamy, barely candy, and wealthy gravy that coats the rooster superbly, and is scrumptious on rice. Nevertheless you select to do it, this recipe will possible change into a staple in your roster of healthful and engaging however spectacular dinners for friends and household alike.