Jamaican Curry Chicken (Gluten Free, Paleo)

Jamaican Curry Chicken (Gluten Free, Paleo)

This Jamaican Curry Chicken recipe is a one pot meal that is full of bold flavours and made using one of two methods - slow cooker or stovetop method.

Course Main Entree

Cuisine Jamaican

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings servings

Calories 348kcal

Author Charla

Ingredients

6 chicken thighs cut into pieces skinless or skin on
3 tbsp Jamaican curry powder see post for recipe
1 tsp all purpose seasoning see post for recipe
¼ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp black pepper
1 medium onion chopped
2 scallions sliced
4 garlic cloves chopped finely
2 tbsp coconut oil or olive oil
6 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 tbsp dried
4 pimento berries or ¼ tsp allspice
1 cup hot water 250 ml
1 medium sweet potato or 2 small ones, chopped
Himalayan pink salt to taste

Instructions

Add the washed chicken to a large bowl and use a fork to pierce the flesh of each piece of chicken. This helps the seasoning to better penetrate.
Sprinkle on the curry powder, all purpose seasoning, ginger, black pepper, onion, scallions and garlic.
Use your hands to thoroughly work in the seasoning, cover with saran wrap (cling film) and refrigerate overnight or for a few hours.
On medium heat, add the oil to a pot/dutchpot.
Scrape off the excess seasoning (i.e onion, scallions and garlic) and place the chicken pieces into the pot, being careful to not overcrowd.
Proceed to seal and sear both sides of the chicken until brown.
Once the chicken is seared, stir in the onion scallions and garlic and saute until translucent.
Add the sprigs of fresh thyme, pimento berries and stir the pot.
Pour in the hot water, then bring to a rolling boil
Reduce the heat to medium/low and simmer with the lid on for 10 minutes.
Add the sweet potato and pink salt (to taste), stir, then simmer for another 20 minutes.
Add a splash of water if the gravy reduces too much and becomes too thick.

For the slow cooker version

Marinate the chicken with the curry powder, all purpose seasoning, black pepper, ginger, onion, scallion and garlic.
Leave to infuse overnight or a few hours the in refrigerator (wrap the bowl with saran/cling film)
Scrape off the excess seasoning from the chicken.
Add the oil to a pan on medium heat and sear the chicken until brown then add the garlic/onion/scallion and saute until soft and translucent.
Transfer the chicken etc.. to your crockpot/slow cooker,.
Add the pimento, thyme and 1 ½ of hot water.
Cover with lid and cook on HIGH for 4 hours.
Add the potatoes 45 minutes before the finishing time and make a slurry with (1tbsp tapioca starch and 2 tbsp water) mix together then add that to the unit.
Add salt to taste and serve

Notes

Notes and Tips:

Follow the steps above for either the slow cooker or burn curry technique.
20 minutes (30-40 minutes) or mix 2tbsp of tapioca starch with 2tbsp water together and stir it in.
For best results, I highly recommend marinating the chicken with the curry and other listed ingredients overnight. This gives the spices plenty of time to penetrate the chicken, making it tastier.
If you are pushed for time, marinate the meat for a few hours instead.
When adding the water, make sure to use hot water to keep the temperate levels consistent.
Scrape off any of the excess seasoning (i.e scallion, onion) before searing the chicken or the little bits will burn.
Don't add the potatoes too early or they will breakdown too quickly. We want them to thicken the gravy, but not completely breakdown.
I used Jamaican sweet potatoes, but you can use any other white potato or even orange sweet potatoes.
Feel free to use any part of the chicken - chopped drumsticks, wings, breasts - just make sure it's boneless.
Remove the skin from the chicken if you are worried about excess fat. I like to keep some skin on as a personal preference.
As per Caribbean culture, meat is washed with lemon/lime/vinegar prior to seasoning.
Use 1 tbsp dried thyme and ¼ tsp allspice if you can't obtain fresh thyme or pimento berries.

Nutrition