It didn’t take me long to decide on what to cook for supper. I needed something that would bring me back to basics; back to my roots. I’ve cooked this succulent chicken dish numerous times for loved ones. However, I can never grow tired of same. I love that it’s rustic, flavorful and simple. Moreover, the spices like cumin, curry powder, pimento (all spice) make this dish very vibrant in appearance and bold in taste.
The dark portions of chicken (drumsticks/thighs were cut into bite-size pieces. Before that, I removed all the skin and residual fat from my chicken parts. By the way, they were bone-in. I do think the bone provides more flavor to the dish. Chicken was seasoned with salt, black pepper, cumin, curry powder, crushed garlic, ginger, crushed pimento (all spice), splash of soy sauce, balsamic vinegar. This was marinated overnight.
Chicken was brought to room temperature. Then, in a sturdy hot skillet with a drizzle of coconut oil chicken pieces were added.
Immediately as the chicken hit the hot skillet, the aromas came alive. They heightened my taste buds. I could smell the individual spices and flavoring that marinated the chicken. I sautéed chicken parts for approximately eight to ten minutes. Then I added roughly chopped onions, finely chopped scotch bonnet pepper, thyme, rosemary along with quarter teaspoon of jerk sauce (added flavor). There was enough flavors in my pot; thus, I added water to cover chicken parts instead of chicken broth.
With lid on, chicken simmered on low to medium heat until they were fork tender and falling from the bone. At that point, there was a thick consistency to gravy. A couple of minutes before completion of the cooking process, chopped scallion and additional scotch bonnet pepper were added.
As you can observe, the dish was spectacular in appearance. And, I must report that curried chicken was a hit with steamed Jasmine rice, fried plantains and sautéed spinach.