Caribbean Chicken with Rice

The mood to cook something Caribbean came across after seeing the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" yesterday! The movie did not do justice to the title & also I was wondering, why should someone make a movie again and again with the same name, spoiling the original score! Anyway, coming back to food, I researched about the Caribbean cuisine & came to know that many of the basic ingredients are quiet common with the Indian cuisine. And luckily, I had everything with what I wanted to cook!

The Caribbean cuisine is famous for its goat curry & the jerk chicken but I opted for a one pot shot. So this is an absolutely delicious one pot meal from the very own Caribbean, which can be made with your store cupboard ingredients. Just marinate your chicken the day before & cook it up on your busy weeknights! Tantalize your taste buds by bringing the Caribbean sunshine right to your Kitchen hob. With those Jamaican spicy touch, am sure you will quite like the unique flavour for your palate!!

Ingredients:

• 6-8 big pieces of chicken (skinless, scored with a knife, bone is not an issue)
• 1 tbsp coriander powder
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• pinch of grated nutmeg
• 1 hot red chilli (seeded & chopped)
• 1 big onion (finely chopped)
• 1/2 cup fresh/frozen peas
• 3-4 sprigs of thyme
• 4 cloves of garlic (crushed)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 2 tbsp of soft brown sugar
• 1 cup of long grain rice
• 25 gm butter
• salt & pepper for seasoning

Method:

1. Put the chicken pieces into a big bowl & season well with salt & pepper. The add the coriander powder, paprika, cumin powder, nutmeg powder, chopped chilli, chopped onion, thyme leaves, crushed garlic, soy sauce & lemon juice to the chicken. Mix well with your hands to combine everything with the chicken. Cover & refrigerate it for a minimum of 4 hours.
2. Heat a heavy based pan & add the cooking oil & sugar & let it cook for 3-4 minutes on medium heat to get a caramel colour.
3. Now take out the chicken pieces from the marinade (remove all the onions sticking to the chicken) & add to the caramel mixture. Cover & cook for 5 minutes.
4. Open the lid & turn the chicken & cook again for 5 more minutes.
5. Now add the onion & the rest of the marinade juices to the chicken. Cover & cook again for 10 minutes.
6. Now add the rice with the chicken & pour in 2 cups of water. Add the butter, peas & salt. Cover & cook for 20 minutes or until the rice is fully cooked & the liquid is fully absorbed.
7. Open the lid, give a good stir with a fork & serve the chicken & rice together in a dish.