Spicy Dinner

Last night's dinner.

West-Indian curries are distinctive and delicious. The Indian spices and spice blends they use were introduced to Caribbean cooking during the time that the British Empire included both India and several islands in the West Indies. Though I believe many of the people of Asian-Indian descent (whose grandparents settled in the islands long ago) have left the area, the spices remain in places like Jamaica, Trinidad, and Saint Lucia. Last night I made a West Indian chicken curry, using a recipe somewhat like the one I linked to in yesterday's blog post. I promised a couple of people that I would post the recipe.

West Indian Chicken Curry

3-4 tablespoons spice mixture (see below)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

6 whole chicken thighs with bone in & loose fat cut off & discarded, some skin left on

1 chopped red onion

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1 jalapeño pepper, seeds & pith removed, sliced (or hotter peppers if you prefer)

1 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 can of chick peas

1 single-serving container of Greek yogurt (like Fage)

Brown the garlic and ginger in the oil on medium high heat. Brown the chicken next, and sprinkle the spice mixture on it, being careful not to burn anything as you turn it. Add onion and  jalapeños, brown a little more. Add chick peas; stir a bit. Add stock & brown sugar. Simmer for 40 minutes or more. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a serving dish and reduce the sauce for a few minutes.

Off heat, stir the yogurt into 1 cup of the sauce, then add the remaining sauce slowly to keep yogurt from separating. Pour this sauce over the chicken and vegetables and serve with flatbread (such as West Indian Roti or pita bread or tortillas) or with French bread (which I used).

NOTES: 
*Optional garnishes: sliced tomatoes, sliced hot and mild peppers, fresh cilantro sprigs, or other fresh vegetables; chutney.
*Alternate to yogurt: use coconut milk instead. Add this to the pot along with the stock and continue cooking as above.
*I used Whole Foods air-chilled chicken thighs. Cutting off the excess fat is very important because too much fat overwhelms the sauce.

My spices are in very miscellaneous containers
which I refill often from bulk spice sellers.

Spice Mixture

2 tablespoons ground turmeric

1 tablespoon crushed dried chili flakes (or smoked hot Paprika)

1 tablespoon cumin seeds or ground cumin

1/2 tablespoon coriander seeds or ground coriander

1/2 tablespoon whole or ground cloves

1/2 tablespoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon whole or ground allspice

1 tsp dried thyme

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons salt

Standardized recipes call for some spices to be used whole, others to be used pre-ground, and are usually very specific about the amounts to use. I use either ground or whole spice, depending in each case what was on my shelf. I grind up the whole spices and the salt with a spice-grinding mortar & pestle (which Arny & Tracy gave me for Christmas). I combine this mixture with the already-ground spices. I use amounts of each spice that look good -- around 3-4 tablespoons total spice mixture.