TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: CURRY CHICKEN with CALYPSO RICE

Renowned for its natural beauty, vibrant calypso music and  colourful traditions Trinidad and Tobago is the southern-most island country in the Caribbean Sea. Lying just 11 km off the east coast of South America,  Trinidad and Tobago is actually closer to Venezuela than it is to its nearest Caribbean island neighbour Grenada. The duel islands of Trinidad and Tobago (along with 21 smaller islands) are one nation today, yet each island has their own history and their people are proud of their cultural differences shaped by over 7000 years of occupation. 

 

Life changed suddenly when Spanish explorers ‘discovered’ Trinidad and Tobago in 1498. Soon afterwards Spanish colonisers arrived. They introduced slave-farmed sugar cultivation and astonishingly, enslaved Africans who were forced to sail to the Caribbean to work the plantations found ways to carry with them the seeds of foods that were import to their cuisine. Through their ingenuity African farmers significantly influenced the culinary landscape, introducing okra, yams, cassava, plantains, pigeon peas and callaloo (a leafy green vegetable).

 

Things took another dramatic shift 300 years later when Spain handed the rule of Trinidad and Tobago over to Britain. The British abolished slavery in 1834 and most of the freed people walked away from the plantations. So, Britain brought in indentured labourers from India who brought with them the cooking methods and spices of their comfort food. Once again the cuisine of Trinidad and Tobago was transformed through the introduction of  coriander, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, fenugreek, cloves and mustard that could be ground to make curry.

 

Trinidad and Tobago finally gained independence from Britain in 1962. The country’s food culture melds Indigenous Caribbean culinary traditions with African, Indian and European influences to create a unique fusion cuisine that burst with flavour. It is the only Caribbean cuisine that is not dominated by creole-style French-influenced food being more aligned with East Indian cooking styles and flavours. 

our

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 

Menu included

CURRY CHICKEN

with 

CALYPSO RICE 

with sides of

pan-toasted roti and mango chutney

 

CURRY CHICKEN

Trinidad and Tobago locals call this dish Curry Chicken not Chicken Curry. At first glance the recipe appears complicated but actually it is quite simple to make. The main ingredient, which costs nothing,  is time.

 

There are 5 key steps for this dish:

1.    Prepare the chicken for marinating

2.    Make the Caribbean Green Seasoning

3.    Marinate the chicken in the Green Seasoning for 4-12 hours

4.    Make the curry powder (whilst the chicken is marinating)

5.    later that day or the next day Cook the curry chicken

 

TIP: Traditionally the chicken is left to marinate in the Caribbean Green Seasoning overnight in the fridge because it needs to marinate for a long period (at least 4 hours and preferably longer). If you want to make this recipe in one day and serve dinner at 6-7 pm, you need to be finished making the Green Seasoning and marinating the chicken by midday.

 

LIST OF INGREDIENTS x 4:

 

1/ Base Ingredients to prepare Chicken for Marinating:

·      1.5 kg chicken pieces (or enough pieces to feed all your guests)

·      Juice of 2 limes or 1 lemon

·      2 cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated

·      Salt and pepper to taste

 

2/ Ingredients for Caribbean Green Seasoning:

·      Juice of 1 large lemon or 2 limes

·      1 bunch coriander, washed and roughly chopped (including stems)

·      12 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

·      4 Mexican mint leaves 

·      Leaves from 4 sprigs fresh thyme

·      1 bunch chives or 2 scallions/shallots, chopped

·      1 sweet red pimento or half a red capsicum, deseeded and chopped

 

NOTES:

Ø  The ingredients in Caribbean Green Seasoning are relatively flexible so use what you have on hand and adjust measurements to taste

Ø   If you can’t source Mexican mint (also known as Spanish thyme) a good substitute is a 50/50 mix of  mint and parley

Ø  If you like your food spicy, you can add in some de-seeded Scotch Bonnet Peppers (a Caribbean variety of the Habanero), but beware - these beauties might be sweet but they are also extremely hot. To give you perspective, they are 50 times hotter than a jalapeño! 

 

3/ Ingredients for the Curry Powder:

·      2 cardamom pods

·      1 tsp coriander seeds

·      ¼ tsp cumin seeds

·      2 pinch mustard seeds

·      2 pinch fenugreek seeds

·      6 fresh curry leaves

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·      ¼ tsp freshly crushed black pepper

·      2 whole cloves 

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·      ½ tsp cumin powder

·      1 tbs ground turmeric powder

·      ½ tbs Madras curry powder (more or less to suit your taste)

 

NOTE: These ingredients make enough curry powder for this recipe, but you can multiply it as many times as you want and keep the extra curry powder in the fridge in a jar for the next time you are making curry

 

4/ Extra Ingredients:

·      1 onion, peeled and finely diced

·      400 ml coconut milk (1 tin)

·      2 tbs vegetable oil (e.g. coconut oil)

·      3 large potatoes, peeled and cut in 2 cm cubes

·      2 cups water

·      4-8 roti bread – enough for how every many guests you are feeding

·      1 jar Mango chutney 

METHOD:

1.    Begin with ingredients from list 1

2.    Mix chicken pieces with lime juice, grated ginger, salt and pepper in a large dish and let sit to marinate a bit in the fridge whilst you make the Caribbean Green Seasoning

3.    Take all the ingredients from list 2 and blitz in a food processor or blender until smooth to make the Caribbean Green Seasoning

4.    Mix the Caribbean Green Seasoning with the chicken that has been marinating and refrigerate for 4-6 hours or overnight, turning occasionally  so that all the flavours combine

5.    Whilst the chicken is marinating make the Curry Powder 

6.    Take the first 6 ingredients from list 3 and  toast them on low heat in a heavy-based dry frypan using a wooden spoon to move the spices around for about 5 minutes until spices begin to release their aroma

7.    Briefly add in the pepper corns and cloves then tip all the spices out of the pan and grind to powder with mortar and pestle

·      Add in the last 3 ingredients; cumin powder, turmeric powder and  curry powder, grind and mix a bit more and curry powder is done

·      After chicken has been marinated for 4-12 hours you can begin making the curry with the ingredients from list 4

·      Heat the oil to medium in a large heavy-based pot

·      Add the diced onion and sauté for about 5 minutes on low heat until soft and translucent but not brown

·      Add in the pre-prepared curry powder and stir for a few minutes until the spices become fragrant

·      Pour in the coconut milk and stir well until smooth then keep stirring for about 2 mins on low temp until a sauce begins to form 

·      Add the chicken and marinating liquid to the pot and stir until all the chicken is coated with the curry sauce and bring the pot to the boil

·      Now add in the potatoes, bring the pot back to the boil, turn the heat  back to simmer, partially cover the pot with a lid and let it cook for  40 minutes (stirring the pot occasionally to ensure nothing sticks on the bottom) until potatoes and chicken are almost cooked

·      Then take the lid off the pot and keep cooking for 10 minutes to ensure sauce reduces and the chicken and potatoes are cooked

·      Once the chicken and potatoes are cooked turn off the heat under the pot, pan-toast the roti in a dry frypan and you are ready to serve

 

CALYPSO RICE

NOTE: begin preparing the rice 1 hour before the curry is cooked so that both dishes are ready to serve at the same time

 

INGREDIENTS:

·      1 cup long grain rice (Basmati or Jasmin)

·      2 cups chicken stock, coconut milk or half/half of each

·      1 ½ tsp salt

·      3 bay leaves

·      2 tsp turmeric powder

·      3 tbs butter

·      1 carrot, peeled and finely diced

·      ½ large red capsicum, deseeded and finely diced

·      ½ large green capsicum, deseeded and finely diced

·      2 shallots/spring onion, finely sliced

·      1 bunch cilantro/coriander or parley, de-stemmed and chopped 

·      2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

·      Freshy cracked black pepper to taste

·      1 or more fresh hot chilli, sliced (optional to taste)

 

METHOD:

1.    Heat 2 tbs butter in a medium pot and gently sauté garlic, capsicum, spring onion and turmeric pdr without browning for about 5 mins

2.    Add rice and  carrot and sauté briefly until rice is coated in butter

3.    Add stock/coconut milk, black pepper and bay leaf and bring the pot to boiling, stirring often to stop the rice sticking on the bottom

4.    Once the pot is boiling give ingredients a good stir, cover the pot with a lid, turn the heat back to low and let the rice cook for 10 mins

NOTE: from this point on don’t take the lid off until ready to serve

5.    Turn the heat off and let the pot sit and steam for at least 10 mins

6.    When you are ready to serve take the lid off, remove the bay leaves and fold in the final tbs butter, fresh herbs and sliced chilli 

 

These are  Q-ZINE original recipes informed by multiple sources including:

https://jiriecaribbean.com/curry-the-taste-of-trinidad-tobago/

https://wetrinifood.com/curry-chicken-recipe/

https://tastetrinbago.com/how-to-make-curry-duck-curried-duck/

https://wetrinifood.com/caribbean-green-seasoning/

http://www.simplytrinicooking.com/green-seasoning/

https://www.simplytrinicooking.com/spicy-coconut-rice/?expand_article=1

https://www.thisbagogirl.com/2017/10/yellow-saffron-turmeric-rice-recipe.html

https://www.thisbagogirl.com/2015/12/calypso-white-rice-recipe.html

http://www.caribbeanchoice.com/recipes