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trinidad curry

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Meat & Poultry

Curry Chicken With Eggplant Simmered In Coconut Milk.

8 Comments on Curry Chicken With Eggplant Simmered In Coconut Milk.

Even as child my mom recalls how much I loved eggplant (baigan), stewed, curry and my all-time favorite , roasted over an open flame and made into baigan choka. Today that affection for eggplant aka aubergine, baigan, brinjal, brinjal eggplant and melongene is just as strong and I try to find different ways to put this lovely vegetable to use. In this recipe we’ll go through the steps of making a classic Caribbean style curry chicken, then we’ll add the cubed eggplant along with some potatoes into the pot with the coconut milk and let it simmer to perfection in the curry sauce.

 

You’ll Need…

3 lbs chicken thighs (skinless)
1 large eggplant
4 medium potatoes
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoon veg oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon Caribbean green seasoning
2 tablespoon curry powder
3 birds eye (bird pepper) pepper
1/2 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup water

Notes. I like using a madras blend curry made in the Caribbean, but you can use your fav. Feel free to use 1/4 scotch bonnet pepper instead of the bird pepper.

Wash, drain and season the chicken with the salt, black pepper and Caribbean Green Seasoning, then allow it to marinate for about 2 hours.

Now heat the oil on a medium flame (in a deep sauce pan) and add the diced onion and garlic to the pot. Turn the heat down to low and let that cook for about 3 minutes so they soften up and start a lovely flavor base.


With your heat still on low, add the curry powder, stir well and let that toast for about 3-5 minutes. The curry will go darker, start to go grainy and take on a wonderful scent. Be sure the heat is on low to avoid the curry burning. In this step we’re cooking the curry so you don’t get that ‘raw’ curry taste when the dish is done cooking. We’re also awakening the spices which make up the curry powder.

15 minutes before you’re ready to cook, take the marinating chicken out of the fridge so it comes back to room temperature. Now add the seasoned chicken to the pot, turn up the heat so you can sear the chicken and get the pieces covered in the curry base we made. Turn the heat back down to med/low, place the lid on and let it cook for about 10 minutes. Add the birds eye peppers at this time as well.

The chicken will release it’s own natural juices, so turn the heat up and burn off that liquid. This will help to intensify the curry flavor of the chicken. It’s now time to add the cubed eggplant (you can peel it or leave it with the skin on), the cubed potatoes and  top it with the coconut milk and water. Bring to a boil (raise the heat), then reduce to a simmer and let it cook for about 20-25 minutes or until the potato pieces are tender. You can have the lid slightly ajar as it cooks and do remember to stir every 5-8 minutes.

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Taste for salt and adjust accordingly. If the sauce (gravy) is thin all you have to do is press a few pieces of the potato with the back of your spoon to crush them and it will help thicken up things. This curry chicken with eggplant will not be the most attractive dish, but I assure the curry base with the addition of the coconut milk will ensure you have a very flavorsome dish.

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.

Meat & Poultry

How To Cook Curry Goat In A Pressure Cooker.

15 Comments on How To Cook Curry Goat In A Pressure Cooker.

Curry goat or goat curry as it’s called in Guyana is one of those dishes you immediately think about when you envision Caribbean cuisine and rightly so, as it’s something you’ll find being prepared on just about every island in the Caribbean. Though the recipe may differ from island to island one thing is common – it must be tender. This usually means cooking it slowly for at least a couple hours to the point where the meat falls off the bones. And though you now get boneless curry goat at the many Caribbean take-out restaurants, the pieces with bone is still the traditional cut of goat meat to use. It can be argued that there’s much more flavor in the bones.

You’ll Need…

3 lbs goat
1 teaspoon salt
dash black pepper
1 medium onion sliced
4 cloves garlic crushed or sliced thin
3 sprigs thyme
1 tomato sliced
5 red birds eye pepper (or 1/2 scotch bonnet)
1 scallion
1 teaspoon curry powder for seasoning the meat
2 tablespoon curry powder for cooking
1/2 teaspoon amchar masala (optional but goes well with this dish)
1 tablespoon Caribbean green seasoning
2 leaves shado beni (bhandhanya)
1 teaspoon ketchup
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 cups water

Notes: I like using goat with the bones, but if you prefer (and can afford it) you can certainly used boneless goat.

Season the washed goat with the salt, black pepper, Caribbean green seasoning, amchar masala (roasted ground cumin will work as well), ketchup (adds a nice acidic layer), teaspoon of curry, the chopped tomato and the chopped scallions. Mix well and allow to marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight may give even better results.

Heat the vegetable oil in the pressure cooker (same steps if you’re not using a pressure cooker) on med/high heat and toss in the diced onion and garlic. Turn the heat down to low and let it cook slowly for 3-5 minutes. With the heat still on low, now toss in the curry powder (2 tablespoon – I use a madras blend made in the Caribbean) and stir well. Let that go for another 3 minutes or so on low heat to cook off the raw curry taste. Add the peppers, cook for a minute and then add the seasoned goat.

Turn the heat up as you want to sear the meat and allow it to pick up some of that lovely curry colour and flavor from the bottom of the pot.

After 10-15 minutes on high heat, top with the other ingredients and secure the lid on the pressure cooker. Cook for 30-35 minutes as per your pressure cooker instructions.

Ensure the pressure cooker is cool before opening (release air and run cool water over it if in a rush). You should now have tender curry goat, but the gravy may be runny for your liking. With the lid off, put the open pressure cooker back on the flame (high) and burn off the liquid until you have a gravy the consistency you like.

TIP. Goat can be notoriously fatty, so what I usually do is after it’s done pressure cooking I allow it to cool completely (before thickening the gravy) and in doing so you’ll see a thin layer of fat at the top form (very thick). Spoon that out and discard. Now turn up the heat to get the gravy right.

By cooking this curry goat in the pressure cooker we cut the cooking time by about 2/3’s, so if you’re ever pressed for time, this pressure cooker curry goat recipe will come in handy. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you’ll have to bring the pot to a boil after adding all the ingredients, then reduce to a gentle simmer for about 2 to 2.5 hours (lid on). Remember to stir and do check to see if there’s enough liquid as it cooks slowly.

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.

Vegetarian

Curry Jingi (Chinese Okra) A Tasty Vegetarian Dish.

4 Comments on Curry Jingi (Chinese Okra) A Tasty Vegetarian Dish.

As a young fella on the islands I knew this vegetable as the one our mom would sometimes use to scrub blackened pots with and to be quite honest, I was never a fan of it. As we’ve discussed before, that lack of appreciation quickly went away as I grew older. When dried the jingi or Chinese okra is commonly known as a luffa and used all over the world as a body scrubber, but our mom had one use for it.. scrubbing pots.

When still green (not fully mature to it’s fibrous state) the jingi is a lovely vegetable, with a mellow sort of flavor and works well as a curry.

You’ll Need…

2 lbs jingi (Chinese okra)
1 small onion (diced)
3 cloves garlic (crushed)
2 tablespoon veg oil
1 heaping tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch black pepper
2 potatoes (cubed)
1 tablespoon chopped shado beni (or 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro)
1/4 scotch bonnet pepper
1 cup water + 3 tablespoon

Note: Shado Beni (chadon beni) will also be called culantro and can be found at West Indian, Latin and Asian food stores.

 Wash, peel and cube the jingi into 3/4 inch pieces (make sure the jingi is NOT fully mature so you don’t have to discard the inner (fluffy with seeds) parts. I used everything.

Heat the oil in a deep sauce pan on medium heat, then toss in half the diced onion and garlic, turn the heat down to low and allow the flavors to build slowly. After 3 minutes, add the curry powder (heat still on low) and allow it to toast for about 2 minutes. The spices which make up the curry will bloom at this point. Pour in the 3 tablespoons of water as well as the diced scotch bonnet pepper and allow to cook for about 3 minutes. This will now take the rawness out of the curry. It will go grainy and start to clump – that is natural.

Now turn the heat up to burn off any remaining liquid and add the cubed jingi and stir well so everything gets coated in the curry base. Now top with the black pepper, salt, chopped shado beni and add the diced potato. The final step is to add the 1 cup of water and bring to a boil.

Turn the heat down and allow to simmer until everything is tender (lid on). It will take about 25 minutes to fully cook. The goal is to have the potato tender to the point where it will help thicken the overall dish. Taste for salt and adjust to your liking. If you find that it’s still a bit runny, you can turn the heat up and burn off any excess liquid.

This is a lovely vegetarian dish which is great with rice and/or sada roti and a great way to use a very underused vegetable. If you’re not sure where to get the jingi (Chinese okra), check out your local Asian or West Indian market.

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.

Vegetarian

Vegetarian Curry Okra Recipe.

9 Comments on Vegetarian Curry Okra Recipe.

As a kid I hated the taste and texture of okra (ochro) but I can safely say that it’s now one of my favorite vegetables to use in cooking. Soups and stews is not complete without a few okras in there, but pan frying them is still my choice. Our mom probably gets a good laugh these days when I request fried okra when we visit her and my dad.. back in the day we (my brother and sisters) all refused to partake in anything okra related. Poor woman always had to cook something different for us.

When most people hear the word ‘vegetarian’ attached to a dish they automatically think it’s something bland and just plain ole flavorless. Nothing could be further from the truth with this vegetarian curry okra.

 

You’ll Need

1 lb okra
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch fresh ground black pepper
1 medium onion diced
3 cloves garlic
2 bird pepper aka birds eye (or 1/4 scotch bonnet)
1 pimento pepper (aka seasoning pepper)
2 tablespoon veg oil
1 tablespoon madras curry powder

 

Note: Fried okra is notorious for needing a lot of oil (absorbs it) so I recommend using a non stick pan if you can, to eliminate the use for more oil.

Tip: To make sure the cooked okra is not slimy (as it can be) wash, pat dry then remove the stems and cut into desired thickness. Place the cut okra on a cookie sheet in a single layer and allow to air dry for a couple hours. Place in direct sun for even better results.

Dice the onion, garlic, hot pepper and pimento pepper (optional) . Then heat the vegetable oil on medium heat and toss in the diced onion and garlic. Turn the heat down to low and let that cook for about 3-4 minutes.

Now it’s time to add the curry powder and some fresh ground black pepper. The heat should still be on low as we want to toast the curry powder to release it’s flavors and not burn the curry. Let that go for 3 minutes.. be sure to stir. You should start getting that lovely curry aroma.

Add the diced peppers and stir. Turn up the heat to medium and start adding the cut okra to the pot. The idea is to stir-fry the okra in the curry base and here is where you’ll need to personalize this dish a bit. Depending on how ‘cooked’ you like okra, you will have to adjust your cooking time. Do NOT cover the pan as we don’t want steam/moisture to develop as this is another factor for making okra slimy.

I let it cook for about 15 minutes before it was to my liking. At this point I salted the dish (always try to salt okra near the end of cooking so it does not develop moisture.. a tip I got from Cynthia @ http://www.tasteslikehome.org/)  and gave it a final stir. You’ll notice how the okra maintained most of it’s brilliant green color, with tasty caramelized edges and the curry base with just delightful.

You’ll love sharing this vegetarian curry okra with your family and friends and there’s enough here for 4-5 people as a side dish. I love having this curry okra with sada roti (sada roti recipe), but it’s also works well as an accompaniment to rice or as any typical vegetable side dish.

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.

Meat & Poultry

Ultimate Curry Chicken?

47 Comments on Ultimate Curry Chicken?

trinidad curry chickenA few months back I came across a wonderful video online of a fellow Trinbagonian living in the US who created a cooking video called “The Ultimate Curry Chicken” and though his method and ingredients of cooking curry chicken was a bit different than mine, I’m sure it was just as tasty. If you’ve watched my introduction video (click on “About” above) you’ll know that curry is not one of the things we grew up on and only years later when I moved to Canada and lived with my aunt, did I really start eating it. Don’t get me wrong, our mom is an excellent cook when it comes to anything curry, it’s just we didn’t have it as often. I’ve been lucky enough to have my mom close (about 1 hour away) the past few years, so over this time I’ve taken her recipe and made some slight changes to call it my own. BTW if you’re in the Toronto area and you’re looking to have some food catered (Trini dishes), be sure to contact me and I’ll not only get you some amazing food, but I’ll even hook you up with a nice discount. I’m not in the catering business, but my sister is and it seems she’s doing an amazing job with the rate her business is growing.

You’ll Need…

3 Lbs Chicken
3/4 tablespoon salt
dash black pepper
1/4 hot pepper (scotch bonnet, habanero or any hot pepper you like) *Optional.
heaping tablespoon curry powder (madras)
1/4 teaspoon roasted Geera (powder)
1 medium tomato diced
1 medium onion sliced
2 cloves garlic sliced
1 teaspoon green seasoning mix
2 + 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Juice of 1 lime or lemon
1 1/2 cups water
6 tablespoons water (to cook curry)
1 scallion
Shado beni (see note below)

* I usually use dark meat (with bones) when cooking curry as I find that the overall taste of the finished dish is more tasty. However the recipe works just as well with white meat (may be a bit dry though)

* Since shado beni is not readily available to us in the city where I live (and I can’t grow it) I usually get some shipped to me and immediately after I get it, it goes into my freezer. Then whenever I’m cooking I break off a few leaves to add to my dish. So if you can get access to some at your local store, remember that freezing is also an option if you get a large package. I also find that the frozen leaves holds more flavour than if you were to puree the leaves as we do with green seasoning mix.

* If you don’t have the green seasoning the recipe calls for, feel free to use about a tablespoon of each of the following (chopped):
– cilantro
– thyme
– shallots
* Spanish thyme would also be a good addition if you can get access to it.

* In the recipe you notice that I cooked the frozen shado beni with the onions before adding the curry. If you’re using fresh shado beni you’ll get better results if you season the chicken with it, rather than cooking it as I did. If you don’t have any shado beni, you can also substitute cilantro for it (add about 2-3 tablespoon chopped to the seasoned chicken)

I got a package of chicken legs with back attached, so this means I had to cut it into serving size pieces before I could get started. After I cut the chicken into pieces  it was placed in a bowl with some water and the juice of the lime (see ingredients above) to be washed. I then drained out the water and squeezed it as dry as I could.

chicken for curry recipe

seasoned chicken for curry

The next step is to season the chicken and allow it to marinate for a couple hours. Add the salt, black pepper, tomato, green seasoning, and scallion (chopped) to the bowl with the chicken and stir so everything gets coated.

seasoned trini curry chicken recipe

After it’s been marinating for a couple hrs, it’s time to start cooking. In a fairly large pan, heat the oil (2 tablespoon) on high heat and get prepared to add the sliced onions, garlic and hot pepper. Allow this to cook for a few minutes until the onions go soft and start to go a bit brown. I then turn the heat to medium and add a few leaves of the frozen shado beni to the pot followed by the curry and geera (cumin) and stir. You may notice that the pot is “dry”, this is when I add another tablespoon of oil to the pot so nothing sticks. The next step is to add the 6 tablespoons of water, turn the heat down and allow this to cook for a couple minutes. This will bring out the true aroma of the curry.

how to curry chicken

frying curry for chicken recipe

jamaican curry chicken

As the liquid burns off it’s time to start adding the pieces of seasoned chicken to the pot. Turn the heat back up to high and stir each piece so it get’s in contact with the cooked curry. After you’ve added all the seasoned chicken, turn the heat to medium-low and cover the pot.

trini curry chicken

guyana chicken curry

You’ll notice that the chicken will spring it’s own juices, so after 15 minutes remove the lid and turn the heat up to high. We’ll now burn off that liquid. As the liquid burns off from the pot (make sure you keep stirring) you’ll see nothing but a bit of oil at the bottom with a sort of curry paste (this is the good stuff).

In the same bowl you seasoned the chicken add the 1 1/2 cups of water so we can pick up any remaining seasoning that was left behind. Now add the water from the bowl to the pot to continue the cooking process.

ultimate curry chicken

Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer with the pot covered (stir occasionally). After 20 minutes, remove the cover and check the sauce or gravy to see if it’s the consistency you like. Usually I have to turn the heat up a bit to reduce the curry sauce as I like it a bit thick.

trinidad curry chicken

curry chicken recipe

I’m sure many of you may have a different way of making curry chicken or as our friends from Guyana say “chicken curry” , so I encourage you to share you method with us in the comments box below this post. Don’t forget to also join us on facebook below:

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