Chicken Curry, Trini-Style #EattheWorld

Welcome to our first 2020 post for our Eat the World project, being spearheaded by Evelyne of CulturEatz. Here's her challenge. This is definitely one of my favorite monthly projects.

For this first 2020 installment, Evelyne just wrote: "This month for the New Year we are going to a warm place with beaches, Trinidad & Tobago!" Fantastic! Here's the line-up...

• Palatable Pastime: Chickpea and Potato Curry 
• Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Chicken Curry, Trini-Style 
• Pandemonium Noshery: Trini Spiced Macaroni Pie 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Doubles Chickpea And Potato Curry With Urad Bara##EattheWorld 
• Making Miracles: Pelau 
• Kitchen Frau: Peanut Butter Stuffed Prunes 
• The Schizo Chef: Phulourie - Split Pea Fritters 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Trinidadian Stir Fry Shrimp 
• Cultureatz: Trinidadian Corn Pie Recipe 
• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Trini Macaroni Pie

Chicken Curry, Trini-Style

Before I decided on what dish I wanted to share today, I did make a Trinidadian Corn Soup and served it at my family's Christmas potluck. And my mom's friend served a Trinidadian Black Cake for a holiday party, but I haven't gotten my hands on that recipe yet. Soon.

This is an easy chicken curry recipe with a little bit of heat. And I've made it more than once already. To note: original recipes I saw used drumsticks; I went with wings instead. And the carrots and celery are my own addition.

Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken wings
• 1 organic onion, peeled and diced, approximately 1 C
• 4 to 5 garlic cloves, peeled and pressed
• 1" knob fresh ginger, grated
• 1 C fresh organic cilantro, divided
• 1 hot pepper (scotch bonnet is traditional, I used 1/2 a jalapeno)
• 2 T curry powder
• 1/2 C diced carrots
• 1/2 C diced celery
• 4 T oil
• 1/2 C chicken stock or water

Procedure

Place the onion, garlic, ginger, 1/2 C cilantro, and hot pepper in the food processor until finely chopped. Add in the curry powder and pulse it again until a paste is formed.

Rub the curry paste all over the chicken wings and place in the fridge for at least an hour to marinate. 

Heat the oil in a pan. Stir in the carrots and celery and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until beginning to soften. Add in the marinated chicken. Brown chicken on all sides and then add the liquid - either stock or water - to create a sauce. Let the chicken simmer until fully cooked, approximately 40 minutes. Add liquid if the pot gets too dry.

Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining chopped cilantro. Serve hot with rice.