One Kitchen, Many Cultures

Gluten Free Main Dishes

Egg And Aloo (curry egg with potato).

Did your mom fry the eggs after boiling them and before making the curry? While it seems that’s the traditional way of making this comforting dish, our mom would simply boil the eggs and add them (cut in 1/2) to the curry base. Additionally I don’t recall that she ever added potatoes or aloo to it.

3 tablespoon veg oil
7 hard boiled eggs
1 medium onion (diced)
3-4 cloves garlic (smashed)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 scotch bonnet pepper (optional)
1 teaspoon ground masala
1 1/2 – 2 tablespoon curry powder
1 3/4 cups water
1 medium tomato (diced)
3/4 teaspoon salt (adjust)
4 medium potatoes (pre-boiled in salted water)
2 tablespoon chopped parsley

Notes. May I recommend following along with the video below as much more about the recipe is discussed there. If making this dish gluten free, please go through the full list of ingredients to ensure they meet your specific gluten free dietary requirements. You’ll notice that I finished with chopped parsley, traditionally chopped Chadon Beni (culantro) would be used. Alternatively chopped cilantro (coriander) could be used. Should you want to add Caribbean Green Seasoning after adding the onion and garlic, it would make a great addition.

Heat the oil in a wide pan over medium flame and fry the boiled eggs (peeled) until they form a slight crust and take on a golden color. How dark you want it is totally up to you. Remove and set aside.

Reduce the flame to low and add the onion, garlic, black pepper, scotch bonnet pepper (any spicy pepper you like and in the amount you can tolerate), ground masala and cook for 3 minutes (same pot).

Now add the curry powder of your choice and cook for a further 3-4 minutes on low.

Turn the heat up to med/high and add the water, which you’ll bring to a boil. Then add the diced tomato and salt and cook on a rolling boil for 4 minutes (med/low heat).

It’s now time to add the pre-boiled potato (aloo) to the pot.

This will allow the potatoes as well as the eggs to absorb that lovely curry sauce we created. Add the eggs back to the pot now.

Tuck everything under the curry sauce and cook on a simmer for 4-5 minutes.

Now determine if the salt is to your liking and adjust if necessary, then top with the chopped parsley and reduce the sauce or gravy to the consistency you prefer. In my case I shut off the stove after adding the parsley and allowed the pot’s residual heat to thicken things up for me.

Mom would usually serve this with Sada Roti, but I was too lazy to deal with flour, so I heated a buss-up-shut (paratha) roti I had in the freezer.

Should you want to add a teaspoon of ground roasted cumin (geera) the final 3-4 minutes of cooking, it will further enhance this curry dish.

Gluten Free Vegetarian

Curry Chickpeas (channa) With Potato (aloo).

While I’ve shared several recipes with potato and chickpeas over the years and yes, you have seen a version of this curry recipe on here. This will be the first time we’re doing this from ‘scratch’. In the previous version we used chickpeas (channa) from the can, with excellent results, but I wanted to share the traditional way with you.

You’ll Need…

2 cups dried chickpeas (soak in 4 cups water)
6 medium potatoes (1/4’s)
12-16 cups water (adjust)
1 heaping tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning
2 tablespoon Curry powder
1 tablespoon Anchar Masala
1 medium onion (diced)
6-8 cloves garlic
5 bird’s eye pepper
2 tablespoon olive oil | 1 teaspoon salt.
2 tablespoon chopped parsley

Important! If doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the full list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs. Especially the curry powder you use, as some may contain fillers. And remember to wash your hands with soap and water immediately after handling spicy peppers.

Place the dried chickpeas in a deep bowl and cover with water (not mentioned in the ingredient list) and allow it to soak for 4-6 hours. In my case I did it overnight. Make sure there’s about 1 inch of water above the dried chickpeas when you start. This step will help to quicken the cook time. Yes you can do this recipe with the aid of a pressure cooker, but I prefer to cook low and slow, plus we’re trying to stick to the traditional way of preparing this dish.

Let’s make a sort of slurry to start things off. In a bowl place the Curry Powder along with the Anchar Masala (use 1 teaspoon of ground roasted cumin if you cannot source the Anchar Masala), the Caribbean Green Seasoning and 3/4 cup water. Give this a good mix!

Heat the olive oil in a deep pot on a medium flame, pour in the curry slurry we created and turn the heat down to low. We want to gently cook the curry to allow all the spices which makes up a good curry powder, to bloom.

Let it cook on that gentle heat for 5 minutes, then crank-up the heat to HIGH to burn off all that liquid.

As you start seeing the oil we started with, take the heat all the way back down to low. Now add the onion, garlic and pepper (in my case I used birds eye pepper, but you can add any spicy pepper and in the amounts you like). Stir to mix well. Remember, the heat is on low.

Rinse the soaked chickpeas a couple times with cool water, drain and place in the pot now.

Also add in the potatoes (yea I like them in big pieces so as they cook and start falling apart, some will still keep their shape and add texture to the dish). Stir well to coat everything in that curry niceness we created.

It’s now time to add the salt and cover everything with water, then crank up the heat to medium/high to bring it to a boil. I used between 13-15 cups of water in cooking, as I stared with 12 cups but added more as it slowly cooked. This is a BIG batch of curry, so feel free to freeze the leftovers.

As it comes to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and place the lid of the pot on, but slightly ajar. Cook for an hour and 15 minutes. Add more water if necessary. Providing the channa is soft, it’s time to adjust the salt to your own liking.

To thicken things, I used my potato masher to smash a bit of the chickpeas, but do keep in mind that as the pot cools it will thicken naturally.

Typically you’d toss in chopped shado beni (chandon beni aka culantro) or cilantro, but in my case all I had was parsley on hand.

So there you have it, channa and aloo from scratch, an iconic veg or vegetarian curry, which is guaranteed to delight your tastebuds.

Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Gluten Free Seafood

Curry Crayfish With Potato.

While I didn’t grow up eating this dish on the islands (simply because I don’t ever recall mom having access to crayfish), it’s quite common to see me make it when I visit the Asian supermarkets and they have crayfish (frozen) in stock. The trick is to not over-cook the the crayfish, while using it a base for flavoring the entire curry.

You’ll Need…

1 lb crayfish (crawfish)
1 med onion (sliced)
4-6 cloves garlic (smashed/crushed)
1 1/4 teaspoon salt (divided)
1 1/2 tablespoon curry powder (divided)
3/4 teaspoon black pepper (divided)
4 -5 cups water
1 small habanero pepper (optional)
2 tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning (divided)
2-3 tablespoon coconut oil
5 medium potatoes (1-2 inch pieces)
1 teaspoon roasted Geera (cumin)
1 tablespoon Cilantro (chopped fine)

Note: If doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the full list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs. Especially the curry powder you use, as some may have flour as a filler/thickener.

Wash the crayfish with 1/2 lemon or 1/2 lime (juice) and cool water. Drain and squeeze dry (especially if the crayfish was previously frozen as in my case).

Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 of the black pepper, 1/2 tablespoon curry powder and 1 tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning. Mix well and marinate for 10-115 minutes.

Add 2 tablespoon of coconut oil in a saucepan on a medium flame. Add the seasoned crayfish, stir well, then crank up the heat to high. Cook for 1.5 to 2 minutes, then remove the crayfish and set aside. I used a slotted spoon.

Turn the heat down to medium now (same saucepan), add the onion, garlic, remaining black pepper, habanero pepper (remove the seeds ad white membrane around the seeds to tame the heat a bit if you want) and the remaining Caribbean Green Seasoning. Stir to combine and cook for about 3-4 minutes. Once the liquid is burnt off and you can see the oil we started off with (add more coconut oil here if you wish), add the remaining curry powder and stir well.

Turn the heat to low so we don’t burn the curry. After 2-3 minutes, add 1/2 cup of water along with the roasted cumin (geera). Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the liquid burns off. This is your curry base.

Now add the potato and stir to coat the pieces of potato with the curry, then add 4 cups of water and remaining salt and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low, lid on (slightly ajar) and cook for 20 minutes and the potato is falling-apart tender.

Once the potato is tender, you can crank up the heat and crush a few pieces of potato to thicken the gravy. Now add the pre-cooked crayfish to the pot. Do keep in mind that this dish is meant to have a sauce or gravy and that it will thicken considerably as it cools down.

Cook for a minute or two, add the cilantro and taste for salt and adjust accordingly. Enjoy!

Be sure to watch the video below if any of the steps seem confusing and be sure to serve this with your fav rice dish, sada roti or my fave.. buss-up-shut roti. Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Oh Yeh.. shrimp can be used a as a replacement for the crayfish.

Meat & Poultry

Incredible Curry Chicken Breast.

Dry, Bland and “Like Rubber“! A few words the average Caribbean person will use to describe curry (curried) chicken breast (white meat). And while there’s some truth to this, I’m here today to change that forever.. with a few simple steps.

You’ll Need…

3-4 lbs chicken breast (no skin nor bones)
1 teaspoon salt (adjust)
2 tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning
1/2 medium onion (diced)
6 cloves garlic (smashed)
2-3 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 – 2 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground roasted cumin (geera)
1 teaspoon Anchar Masala
3 cups water
2 medium tomatoes (diced)
2 tablespoon cilantro (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

  • Important! If doing this recipe gluten free please go through the full list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs. Especially the curry powder you use, as some may have flour as a filler. I find using a heavy pan (like cast iron) gives you better results. I also like cooking this dish outdoors (the strong scent indoors can last a long time).

Heat the oil on a medium flame. Then add the onion and garlic, turn the heat down to low and cook for 3 minutes. Then add the Caribbean green seasoning and stir well. Typically you’d season the chicken with the Caribbean Green seasoning, but we’re doing things differently. After 3 minutes after adding the Green Seasoning, add the curry powder and stir well.

The curry will go darker as we cook it (heat still on low). After 4 minutes add the diced tomato, this will help give you a thick gravy at the end, PLUS the acidity will help balance the overall flavor of the curry. Stir well, then add the water.

Turn the heat to medium to bring it to a boil. As you start seeing little bullbles, add the black pepper, salt, anchar masala and geera.

Turn the heat down to med/low and simmer for about 8-10 minutes. Toss in the peppers (whole). Feel free to make it spicy by using a more SPICY pepper.

The liquid will reduce by about a third, add the pieces of chicken breast (2 inch pieces) and stir well to coat with the curry sauce.

Cook for 7-10 minutes as we don’t want to make the chicken dry. Turn off the heat, toss in the cilantro to finish things off. Or if you have fresh Shado Beni (culantro), use that instead of the cilantro.

Remember to taste for salt and adjust to your liking. Note! If you break the peppers it will make the dish spicy.

Now you know! Dry and bland curry chicken breast are a thing of the past. The trick is to create a delicious curry gravy and to add the chicken breast near the end, so you never over-cook it. Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Gluten Free Meat & Poultry

Incredible Caribbean Curry Chicken With Potato.

No you’re not seeing double! If you’ve been following my culinary exploits here from day one, you would have seen me share a similar Curry Chicken With Potato (aloo) recipe about 8 years ago. And while that recipe is timeless, the google indexing bots are no longer as kind to the website, so if you were do do a search online you’ll never find that classic (original) recipe.

You’ll Need…

3-4 lbs chicken
3/4 tablespoon salt (adjust)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning (divided)
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion (sliced)
5-8 cloves garlic (smashed)
1/2 scotch bonnet pepper
5 1/2 cups water (divided)
2 heaping tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon roasted geera (cumin)
1 teaspoon anchar masala
5 medium potatoes (cut into 1/4’s)
3 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Important! if doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the full list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs. Especially the curry powder – read the label if you don’t make your own. I used an extra Habanero pepper (floated) in this dish as I enjoy my curry very spicy.

Watch the video below to see how I broke down a whole chicken for this recipe. Feel free to use thighs or drums if that is what you have on hand or prefer using. Additionally, you may use chicken breast, but IMHO you get better results with bone in/ dark meat.

Season the chicken with the salt, black pepper and 2 tablespoon of the Caribbean Green Seasoning. Stir well and allow to marinate for a couple hours in the fridge.

Heat your deep pot on a medium flame and add the oil. Followed by the onion, garlic and scotch bonnet pepper. Turn the heat down to low and gently cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the remaining Caribbean Green Seasoning and stir. 30 seconds later add the curry powder and mix well.. heat still on low please. This step will toast the curry powder and bloom the spices which makes up the curry powder.

4 Minutes later, crank the heat to high and add 1/2 cup water, stir and then add the Geera and anchar masala (you can get this on amazon or your local Caribbean market – or double up on the roasted geera aka cumin). The goal here is to do two things. 1 Cook out the rawness of the curry and 2. to burn off the water we added to intensify the flavor of the curry base.

It will go dark, thick and perfume the kitchen with all the curry niceness. As soon as all the liquid is gone and you can see the oil we started with, add the seasoned chicken and stir well to coat each piece.

Bring to a boil (about 3-4 minutes), turn the heat down to medium and cover the pot. In the same bowl you marinated the chicken swish around the 5 cups of water and set aside for now.

After 4 minutes with that lid on, you’ll notice a lot of liquid sprouted. Turn the heat back up to high and burn off that liquid to intensify the overall flavor of the curry. (lid off).

3-4 minutes on high and the liquid should be gone. Add the potato, stir and add the 5 cups of water to fully cook the chicken and get the potatoes tender and falling apart.

As soon as it comes to a boil, turn the heat down to a rolling boil, lid on (slightly ajar) and allow it to cook for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. This is where I floated the Habanero pepper (not mentioned in the ingredient list) .. if you do, you can break it later on as I did, to release the fury or don’t break to get the flavor of the oil on the outside of the pepper and not the raw heat.

Here is where you’ll taste it for salt and adjust to your liking. Also, you can (up to you) use your spoon to crush some of the potato pieces to help thicken the gravy.

I allowed the pot to go for 4 minutes with the lid off and then it was time to turn off the stove, toss in the cilantro (better if you have shado beni) and get ready for an incredible curry dish. IMPORTANT! If it looks runny, please note that it will thicken up as it cools down.

Back to using chicken breast… be sure to check out my Curry Chicken Breast video if you like white meat and you don’t want dry, bland and tough curry chicken without bones and dark meat.


Serve with hot steaming rice or your favorite Roti! Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Gluten Free Seafood

Curry Crab With Shrimp and Potatoes.

Here’s a classic Caribbean Seafood Curry which will not only excite the tastebuds, but one which will get even get those picky eaters eager to be at the dinner table. Succulent shrimp, tender potatoes and a gravy rich with crab flavor, without being overbearing. NO this does not need coconut milk (but I’ll leave that up to you).

You’ll Need..

3 ocean crabs (cleaned and cut in 1/4s)
1 – 1.5 lb shrimp (large 21-25)
1 1/2 tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning (divided)
3/4 tablespoon sea salt (divided) *adjust
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
6 medium potatoes (in 1/4)
3- 4 cups water
2 tablespoon olive oil
1.5 – 2 tablespoon Curry Powder
1 teaspoon ground roasted cumin (geera)
1 teaspoon Anchar masala
2 wiri wiri peppers
1 medium onion (diced)
6 cloves garlic (smashed)
1 medium tomato
2 tablespoon Shado beni (or cilantro)
* Juice of one lemon to wash the crab and shrimp

Important! If doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the full list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs. Especially the curry powder you use, in the event there’s any ‘filler” in it. I used Yukon Gold potatoes as I love the texture it gets when it’s cooked and breaks down (to thicken the dish), but feel free to use any variety you like.

Wash the crab and shrimp (please devein) with cool water and the lemon juice and set aside.

Deep pan on medium flame, add the olive oil followed by the garlic, onion and wiri wiri peppers (any spicy pepper you like will work). Turn the heat down to low so we don’t burn the garlic. Add the cumin seeds and stir – heat still on low.

After 4-5 minutes, add the curry powder and stir. It’s will go darker, start clumping and release a lovely scent. This sort of wet toasting will allow the spices which makes up a good curry powder, to bloom. Add the black pepper at this point. Now turn the heat to medium, stir and add 1/4 cup water to the pot. Scrape to release anything stuck to the bottom of the pot.

As the water drys up, add the Anchar Masala and roasted cumin (geera) and stir well. Yes that’s even more wicked flavors right there.

Keep stirring and get rid of all the liquid. We’re hoping to see the oil we started with. Toss in the crab at this point followed by the 1 1/4 tablespoon of the Caribbean Green seasoning and 1/2 tablespoon of the salt. Mix well. Toss in the diced tomato, that acidity will help bring balance to the dish.

Go in with the potato, stir to coat, then add the rest of the water and bring to a boil (turn up the heat).

Season the shrimp with the remaining green seasoning and salt. Set aside.

Once the pot comes to a boil, reduce the heat and cook with the lid on (slightly ajar), until the potato is tender and start breaking down.

20 minutes later and the potatoes should be fully cooked. Using your spoon crush a few pieces of the potato to help thicken the gravy and turn the heat up if you have a lot of liquid, until you get a consistency you like (remember it will thicken as it cool).

Here’s where we’ll add the season shrimp to the pot, stir in well and cook for 1-2 minutes before you turn off the stove. Let the residual heat finish cooking the shrimp or we risk over-cooking the shrimp.

Taste for salt (you will need) and adjust accordingly. Toss in the shado beni (or cilantro), cover the pot and leave it for 3-4 minutes before serving.

You now have and iconic Caribbean Seafood Curry to enjoy with your family and friends. Serve with rice or roti.

Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/