Coconut Chicken Curry

One of my favourite Seychellois dishes is of course, the coconut chicken curry; incredibly flavourful, packed with so many spices and rich fresh coconut milk. So many of the flavour components used in the Seychelles actually can’t be found in the western world, or they incredibly hard to get a hold of; cinnamon leaves, allspice leaves… I took the overall flavour, and made an accessible version, with ingredients you can find in most supermarkets, or at least your Indian/Caribbean grocers.

This is a classic and well loved dish of mine. I have formulated my own masala for the dish, which is what makes it stand out from other curries. The chicken is cooked until the meat is so tender, it falls off the bone - If you don’t have a sturdy knife that can cut through bone, you can always use the whole thighs, just cook it for longer.

The prep/cooking time looks like it takes loads of effort to make this dish, but most of the time the chicken is marinating. The chicken is cooked for around 1.5'-2 hours, but 80% of the time, its left undisturbed, and doesn’t need tending.

Serves: 5-6 people

prep/cooking time: 3hrs15 - Overnight

active cooking time: 1.5-2 hrs

Ingredients

For the Curry Masala:

3/4 tsp ground cumin

2 1/2 tsp mild chilli powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp ground turmeric

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Method:

1. In a small bowl, add all the ingredients, stirring until everything is evenly mixed.

For the curry:

1kg chicken legs or thigh, cut into 4 cm pieces (use bone-in if possible, chopping the chicken with a cleaver, removing the skin off 1/2 the chicken, if not, boneless skinless will do)

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tbsp tomato paste

1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Curry masala (already made, see ingredients above)

1 tsp dark soy sauce

2 tsp light soy sauce

1 stick of lemongrass, lightly bashed, kept whole

9 curry leaves

250ml coconut cream

1 cup (250ml) water

2 big potatoes, diced

salt, oil

Method

1. In a pot or a large bowl, add the cut up chicken, fresh ginger, garlic, ground turmeric, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, curry masala, and both soy sauces. Mix everything so the chicken is thoroughly and evenly coated, let marinate for at least 2 hours in the fridge, up to overnight.

2. If the chicken is in a bowl, add it to a large pot, with a drizzle of oil and lightly season with salt, mix to coat. Turn the heat up to medium-low, add a lid and let cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure nothing is sticking or burning.

3. After 20 minutes of cooking, increase the temperature to medium, add the lemongrass and curry leaves, cook for an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Pour the coconut cream, water and add the potatoes to the curry, stir to mix. Bring the curry to a boil, turn the heat down to low, add the lid back on and simmer for 45 minutes.

5. After 45 minutes the chicken should be extremely tender and the potatoes softened. Remove the lid, turn the heat up to medium, and let the sauce reduce to your desired consistency, season with salt and serve hot.