This Trinidad Boneless Curry Chicken is packed with flavor and is absolutely mouth-watering. I stepped away from the traditional whole chicken and used boneless skinless chicken thighs as it is less calories and smartpoints and takes a short amount of time to cook.
Traditionally, culantro and pimento peppers are used but since its hard to find those items in some places, the pimento can be omitted and cilantro can be used in place of culantro. I personally think you can still get a good curry without those ingredients especially when its hard to access. Red pepper flakes can be used instead of scotch bonnet or habanero. In addition, if you cannot find any Caribbean curry, Badia brand works fine.
Note: If you wash your chicken before cooking it will spring water while cooking and you may not need to add additional water. I did not since it increases cross-contamination. You can read more below on that.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs skinless boneless chicken thighs
- 3 tbsp curry powder (use Badia brand if unable to get Caribbean curry)
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1/2 cup chopped culantro (bandania, shado-beni) or cilantro
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
- 2 -3 Trinidad pimento pepper, chopped finely (if unavailable, omit)
- 1/2 scotch bonnet or habanero pepper (optional)
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 3 cups water + 4 tbsp
Directions
- Trim fat from thighs and cut into 4-6 pieces per thigh. Place in a bowl.
- On a clean cutting board, chop onions, garlic, scallions, culantro, and peppers
3. Season chicken with salt, pepper, half of the onion, garlic, peppers, all of scallions, 1/3 of chopped culantro, 2 tsp curry powder, and mix to combine. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
4. When ready to cook, heat a medium-large heavy bottom pot with 2 tbsp canola oil on medium low heat. Add the remaining onions and cook for 1 minute, add garlic and peppers and stir
5. Mix 3 tbsp water into remaining curry powder to form a paste and add to pot stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes. Curry paste will start to get grainy as it cooks which is what you want. You may add another tbsp of water if it starts sticking to the pot.
6. Turn heat up on medium high and add chicken. Tossing to fully combine curry paste and chicken. Cook uncovered for about 2 minutes, stir and cook for about another 2 minutes.
7. While chicken cooks, pour 3 cups of water into the bowl that chicken was marinating in and move around to get all the bits and pieces of herbs that was left over.
8.Pour over chicken and and stir while deglazing the pot by scraping the bits and pieces to add flavor to the sauce. Bring to a boil, turn heat to medium low, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Uncover, stir and cook for an additional 7-10 minutes. Serve with rice, roti, naan or pitas.
Yield: 6 servings (3/4 cup per serving)
Nutrition Info per serving (using myfitnesspal)
Calories: 280, total fat: 16 g, total carbs: 7 g, protein: 28 g
myWW smartpoints per serving (using WW recipe builder)
Green, blue and purple : 5 smartpoints
