Caribbean Style Chicken Curry with Rice and Peas

I know it's been a long time since my last post, but I am ashamed to say that I have been doing very little of the cooking in our household recently. This one is well worth the wait though.

Lovely tender chicken breasts smothered in a tasty Caribbean style curry sauce and served with the staple Jamaican side: Rice and Peas cooked in coconut milk.

Ingredients:

For the marinade:

4-6 garlic cloves, crushed

2 scotch bonnet peppers, finely chopped

a small bunch of scallions/spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped

juice of half a lime

2-3 tbsp light soy sauce

salt and pepper

2 tsp thyme

an inch of ginger, peeled and chopped

For the curry:

2 large marinated chicken breasts, skins removed

1 large brown onion, finely diced

2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

1/4 green bell pepper, finely diced

1/4 red bell pepper, finely diced

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

a couple of sprigs of thyme

2 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp tomato puree

a splash of Tabasco sauce

salt and black pepper

For the rice and peas:

2 cups of long grain rice, rinsed and drained

1 can of red kidney beans

1 can of coconut milk

1 small brown onion, finely chopped

a couple of sprigs of thyme

2-3 cloves of garlic

Method:

The night before: Put all of the marinade ingredients into a food processor and blitz until you have a smooth paste. Slash the chicken breasts and rub the marinade all over the breasts, then cover and put in the fridge overnight.

1. Heat some oil in a large casserole and fry the cumin seeds until aromatic;

2. Reduce the heat to low and fry over the onions and peppers for 5 mins. Meanwhile, thickly dice the marinated chicken breasts;

3. Add the tomato puree, garlic, curry powder, thyme and Tabasco and fry for a further minute, stirring well, then add half a cup of water and bring to the boil;

4. Add the chicken and potatoes and coat well with the sauce, season well and add another cup of water, bring to the boil again, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for approx. 45 mins;

5. Once the curry is simmering, prepare your rice and peas. Drain and rinse your kidney beans, reserving the liquid from the can. Add this to a can of coconut milk and a small amount of water to make up 4 cups of liquid. Add the garlic, onion, thyme and beans to the liquid and bring to the boil;

6.  Add the rice and cook on a rolling boil for 2 mins, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the liquid has been absorbed by the rice;

7. Serve and enjoy!