Jamaican Chicken Recipes

Jamaican Curry Chicken

My favourite Jamaican chicken dish is without a doubt the Curry Chicken. I am a big fan of chicken and I love spicy food, which makes the Curry Chicken the perfect dish for me. Of course, you can deside for yourself how spicy you want to make it by using different or less spicy peppers. Curry Chicken can either be cooked in 3-steps: first brown the chicken, then simmer it with the seasonings and lastly add the liquid to it. However, for the convenience, in this recipe we will just put everything in a pot and simmer it on low. This delicious dish, which can be served with rice and dumplings (or anything you like), is an easy to make, everyday meal.

Ingredients:

4lbs Chicken, chopped in small pieces (remove skin)
2 Tbsp Lemon juice (for washing chicken)
3 tsp Salt
3/4 tsp Black pepper
6 tbsp Curry Powder
4 Cloves garlic, chopped finely
1/4 Small red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/4 Small green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 Large cooking onion, chopped2 Tbsp Cooking oil
1 tsp Dried thyme or 1 sprig fresh thyme
1 Tbsp Tomato ketchup
1 Tbsp West Indian hot pepper sauce (optional)
3 cups Water
2 Medium potatoes, cut in 6 pieces each

Method:

Cut and wash chicken: Cut chicken into serving pieces (not too small) and remove and discard skin. Pour lemon juice over chicken, wash in cold water, drain well and dry with paper towel

Season chicken with 2tsp salt, black pepper, 3 Tbsp of curry powder and chopped garlic;put chicken in fridge for 1 hour to absorb spices

1. Add cooking oil to saucepan and heat on High; saute cumin seeds for 1/2 minutethen add chopped onion, green and red bell peppers,

2. Add thyme, pepper sauce, 3 Tbsp curry powder, 1 tsp salt and tomato ketchup; sauteonion and peppers until just tender

3. Add 1 cup of boiling water and, when sauce is boiling, add chicken. Fold in chicken until it is well covered with sauce and seasonings; add 1 1/2 cups of boiling water; cover and bring to a rolling boil

4. Lower heat to medium, add potatoes and add 1/2 cup water, cover and simmer (slow boil) until chicken is tender and sauce thickens (about 1/2 hour)

5. Taste and adjust with salt, if needed.

Makes 6 servings

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

I think almost everyone knows that Jamaica is well-known for its herbs and spices. Jerk Chicken is one of those dishes that contains a nice mixture of these herbs and spices, and is therefore a must for everyone to try out!

The word "Jerk" refers to the spiciness of the chicken. The method which is used to cook the chicken, on the grill where it is smoked, gives the chicken its rich flavour, colour and texture.

The following recipe is very easy to make and is perfect for when you are having friends or family over and you would like to impress them with one of Jamaica's most wanted dishes.

Ingredients:

3 whole chickens (cut in halves)
6 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

Jerk Marinade:

2 tsp. ground Jamaican pimento
½ tsp. grated nutmeg
½ tsp. mace
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. black pepper
1½ cups escallion
2 onions
2 scotch bonnet peppers
2 tbsp. cooking oil

Method:

1. Cut the 3 chickens in halves. Rinse chicken in lime water, drain and season with garlic.
2. Blend all the ingredients for the marinade together in a blender or food processor. To grind pimento, heat grains in a frying pan in a tablespoon of oil until crisp and then blend.
3. Pour mixture on to seasoned chicken and leave to marinate for about 2 hours or overnight for better results.
4. Light the barbeque grill, ensure coals are white before putting on meat.
5. Put on chicken halves skin side down and keep turning to prevent the chicken from getting too dark. Allow to cook slowly.
6. Chop into small pieces. Can be served with additional jerk sauce

Makes 12 servings

Jamaican Fricasseed Chicken

Fricasseed Chicken, or Brown Stew Chicken (as it is best known these days), is one of the most popular ways of cooking chicken in Jamaica. It is usually eaten with rice and peas and yams and has a rich, tasty gravy.

Cooking Fricasseed chicken is a way of cooking your chicken with herbs and spices until it produces its own sauce. In Jamaia, the traditional Sunday dish is rice and peas with chicken, so this is when the Fricasseed Chicken is mostly prepared.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (3 lbs)

1 medium onion chopped

1 stalk escallion chopped

2 sprigs thyme

1 small sweet pepper cut into small pieces

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

2 tsp butter

3 tbsp cooking oil half cup tomato ketchup

2 tsp chicken seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp grated ginger (optional)

1 medium irish potato diced (optional)

1 small carrot diced (optional)

Method:

Cut chicken into serving sizes, removing the skin in the process.
Clean and wash into lime or vinegar water.
Add all ingredients except ketchup, oil, butter, carrot and irish potato.
Let marinate for about 5 minutes. (It is always best to add herbs and spices to chicken a day or a couple hours before, but in a case where it can't be done, follow same instructions. The longer its marinated, the better the seasoning will soak through the meat giving it a better flavour).
Add cooking oil to large frying pan and place over low to medium heat, after heating add pieces of chicken without the herbs and spices. Let fry on both sides.
When done, pour excess oil from frying pan, then add fried chicken, herbs and spices, irish potato, carrots, butter and ketchup to same pan. Also add 1 cup water, this cooks the meat, irish, carrots, herbs and spices and helps make sauce.
Cover pan and cook over medium flame until water turns to sauce.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Jamaican Fried Chicken

I think everyone has a recipe for fried chicken (or knows how to get to the Kentucky Fried Chicken), but this Jamaican Fried Chicken recipe is spicy and has flavour to the bone! Fried chicken is easy to make and also tasted really good the other day eaten cold. The marinating part should be done at least 2 hours before cooking the chicken, but it is best to let the seasonings get into the chicken overnight.

Personally I like the fried chicken the best when the skin is still on the chicken, but if you prefer, you can remove the skin, but the result might not be as crispy as the chicken with the skin still on.

The best way to fry the chicken is to do fry them in batches, 4 pieces of chicken at a time will work best.

Ingredients:

4lbs Chicken, cut in pieces
1 cup Milk
2 cups Flour
1/2 tsp Dried Thyme
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Salt
2 to 3 cups Vegetable Oil

Seasoning Rub

1 tsp ground Paprika
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp ground Ginger
1 tsp Allspice
2 1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Method:

1. In a large bowl mix together paprika, onion powder, garlic powder and ground ginger, allspice, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper

2. Place chicken in the bowl with seasoning mix and rub the seasoning into chicken until it is coated; place in fridge overnight, or for at least two hours

3. Remove bowl from fridge and set aside

4. Pour milk into shallow bowl; set aside. In a large baking pan mix together flour, thyme, paprika, cayenne, black pepper and salt

5. Piece by piece dip the chicken in the milk then place in baking pan to coat with flour; shake off excess flour.

6. Place chicken on a rack and let sit until the flour is no longer dry, about 20 minutes. This time will also bring it closer to room temperature which will make it cook quicker

7. While chicken is on the rack, heat oil on High in a large Dutch pot or deep skillet

8. Fry chicken in batches until golden brown, about 10 minutes each side, depending on how big the pieces are

9.Let chicken rest in a 250-degree F oven for about 20 minutes, which will allow it to finish cooking and stay crispy

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Jamaican Chicken Foot Soup

When I was in Jamaica, my host family prepared us some Chicken soup. This chicken soup however, is nothing like the one you and I are used to. It was a soup with chicken feet, dumplings and yams in them. I thought the chicken legs were just to give the soup its chicken taste, but apparantly Jamaicans just eat the skin of the feet and they chew on the bones (some even eat the chicken bones). I was a little surprised by this, but I knew that if I wanted to experience the true Jamaican culture, I had to try it too. It was quite a challenge, since I was not accustomed with eating the feet of a chicken, but the skin of the chicken foot is actually really soft and the juice that comes out of the bones as you chew on it, is really good. I did not eat the bone, as the children of my host family did, but it was definitely an experience I would like to share with you. If you don't feel comfortable with eating the chicken feet, you could also just use them for the cooking and leave the feet in the pan when you start serving (but it's worth giving it a try).

Ingredients:

1/2lb chicken foot
half an onion
4 cloves of garlic
1 sprig of thyme
1 scallion
1 scotch bonnett pepper
3 carrots
6 fingers of okra
1 cup of flour
1/2 a teaspoon of salt
1/2 a teaspoon of black pepper
1 litre of chicken stock
Additional ingredients: Potato, green bananas, pumpkin or yam

Method:

Cut the nails from chicken feet and wash
Chop carrots, scallion, thyme and okra.
Dice the onion and crush the garlic
Soak the chicken feet in water for five minutes
Set the stock to simmer.Add crushed garlic, let it simmer for 5 mins.
Add the chicken foot after 5 mins and boil for an additional 10 mins.
Pinch off a small amount of the dough and roll it in your hands to make a "spinner". Mix flour and a pinch of salt with water until it has the consistency of dough.
Add scallion, onion, thyme, okra and carrots. Stir the mixture and let it boil for 5 mins. Add spinners and cover the pot.
Add the scotch bonnet pepper, salt and black pepper then stir in the packet of cock soup (if you are using this). Cover pot and leave, stir occasionally until the chicken foot and all vegetables are cooked.

Makes 6 to 8 servings